


Those Damn Argents

by thornconnelly



Series: The Hale Spark [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adopted Children, Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Alpha Laura Hale, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, BAMF Stiles, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, College Student Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale & Isaac Lahey Friendship, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Emissary Stiles Stilinski, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, F/M, Good Alpha Laura Hale, Hale Pack Original Characters, Implied/Referenced Torture, Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, M/M, Minor Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey, Minor Laura Hale/Jordan Parrish, Pack Bonding, Pack Cuddles, Past Isaac Lahey/Stiles Stilinski, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, Stiles Stilinski is a Nice Thing, Teacher Derek Hale, The Hale Pack - Freeform, Warning: Kate Argent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27459466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornconnelly/pseuds/thornconnelly
Summary: The pack has not had any problems in over a year... so of course that's when the Argents show up.If you've read any of this series before, you know that my main goal is always to make these boys happy. Kate and Gerard are going to do their very best to mess things up though...
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: The Hale Spark [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892299
Comments: 82
Kudos: 286





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read the other installments in my series, Ben was an 11-year old omega werewolf that Derek and Stiles adopted, although he's almost 13 at this point. The three of them are living near Stanford while Stiles attends college there and Derek teaches at a nearby high school. I think that's about all you'd need to know, for now, to follow along.

Allison yanked the car door open and threw her backpack in with such force that Isaac ducked his head down to glance at her as she slammed the door and came around to the passenger seat.

“You alright?” 

Allison dropped into the seat and pulled the door closed before yanking out her seatbelt. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she grouched, looking out the window. After a second she turned back and tried to force a small smile. “I’m not mad at you, babe. I just had a fight with my mom.”

Isaac raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as he put the car in drive. After a minute or two of silence, he reached over and turned the radio on. They traveled in silence for about ten minutes before Allison burst out, “I just don’t get my mom! She still treats me like I’m fifteen! I mean, I get that I’m still technically a teenager, and that I still live with my parents, but I hate that she treats me like a child.”

“What was she mad about this time?” Isaac asked softly. 

“Everything,” Allison said sullenly. “She didn’t want me to come this weekend. She doesn’t see why I spend so many weekends down in Stanford.”

Isaac glanced at her briefly before looking back at the road. “Do you… um… we could…”

Allison unfolded his arms and shifted slightly so she was facing Isaac a little. “I want to go to Stanford. I want to spend the weekend with you. I want to see Stiles, and Derek, and Ben. You all, and the rest of the pack, you’re all important to me. I don’t understand how my dad gets that but my mom doesn’t. It’s just like… she refuses to even entertain that you guys are an important, permanent part of my life.”

Isaac grinned, although his eyebrows were still a little scrunched in the middle. 

“I’m also pretty sure she thinks we’re in some sort of poly relationship with Derek and Stiles,” Allison admitted with a small smile. 

Isaac snorted and looked over at Allison quickly before looking back at the road. 

“I’m sorry for complaining,” Allison said finally. “I know that your situation with dad is still so shitty. I should be grateful to my parents because they’re mostly supportive.”

Isaac took one hand off the wheel and reached over to hold Allison’s hands, which were twisting in her lap. “Babe. You’re still allowed to be mad at your mom because what she’s doing is shitty. My dad’s shittiness as a parent doesn’t cancel out your mom’s shitty behavior.” She smiled and linked their fingers together. “How’s your dad been through all of this?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “We’ve talked separately a couple times. He doesn’t want to contradict her, you know, because they’re supposed to put up a unified front or whatever, but he doesn’t have nearly as many problems with you and the pack as she does.” Allison laughed humorlessly, “If you had asked me years ago which of my parents would be more accepting of a werewolf boyfriend, I would not have guessed my dad.”

Isaac laughed, “Yea, and also when I learned they were hunters when we first started dating? You know how everyone always jokes about the cliche of the dad with the shotgun threatening his daughter’s boyfriends? I was like, oh shit this is like, a real possibility.”

Allison’s eyes widened, “No! He didn’t threaten you, did he?”

“Nah,” Isaac said with a grin. “I mean, he said all the things a dad has to say, I guess, but it was more like, coming from a place of mutual respect and love… not threatening so much. But your mom…”

“Wait, she threatened you?”

“No,” Isaac said slowly, still grinning even though his brows were furrowed. “She’s never said anything. But she watches me like… like she’s just waiting for me to slip up or something.”

Allison pursed her lips. “I didn’t realize. I mean, I know she’s… cautious, at best, around the pack, but I didn’t realize she made you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s okay,” Isaac said softly. “Your dad and I have talked about her a couple times. He explained, like, how they were trained and stuff, and how your mom is just having a hard time releasing some of that training. I don’t blame her for wanting to protect you.”

*

“Hey, pup?” Stiles called as he looked at the clock in the kitchen. “Isaac and Allie should be here in a bit and Derek texted that he just left school. You gonna be ready soon?”

Stiles heard a few bangs from Ben’s room followed by his door opening. Ben stuck his head into the hallway, “Do I have time to shower before we leave?”

“Yea, sure,” Stiles said with a grin. “Just, maybe, a short one?”

“Alright, I’ll hurry,” Ben agreed before sticking his head back into his room and closing the door. 

Stiles grinned as he focused on finishing cleaning the kitchen. The house they were renting this year had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and Ben had been super excited when he realized that he’d have his own bathroom. Cynthia had a room for half the week, when she came down from Beacon Hills to homeschool Ben, and the other room was used by whichever pack members were visiting at the time. 

Stiles hummed while he cleaned. He could feel through the pack bonds that Derek was almost home and Isaac was getting closer by the minute. Allison was pack just as much as Isaac, but since she was human, she didn’t feel the same. When they were together he could feel the bond, but without her own magic to amplify the bond, he couldn’t feel her from larger distances. Laura was the only one who could sense the humans as well as the werewolves.

Stiles shrugged before clapping his hands together and looking around the kitchen, finally satisfied. 

Derek walked into the kitchen and put his bag down on the island counter before wrapping his arms around Stiles. “Ben is showering?”

“Hmmm,” Stiles agreed as he leaned in for a kiss. “Do you think he heard you come in?”

“I’m not sure. His music is pretty loud,” Derek said with a grin as he kissed down Stiles’ neck. “I’d suggest we take advantage of his distraction… but Isaac should be here in a couple minutes.”

Stiles groaned as Derek nipped lightly at his collarbone. “How was school today?”

“Good. Gave the kids a vocab quiz. That’s always a fun day for me,” Derek laughed. “Did you end up going to Half Moon Bay with Ben?”

“Yup,” Stiles said with a grin. “He filled up a few more pages in his journal, we both read for a bit, and then grabbed tacos for lunch.”

“I don’t know why you always get tacos for lunch on Fridays,” Derek laughed. “You know that Isaac always wants to get tacos for dinner when he comes.”

“What can I say?” Stiles said with a laugh as he steps out of Derek’s arms. “We love tacos.” He walked to the hall and raised his voice slightly, “Hey Ben, Isaac and Allie should be here any minute. You almost done?”

The shower shut off a few seconds later and Ben shouted back, “I’m getting dressed!”

Stiles grinned as he came back to Derek. “We still have tonight, once everyone’s in bed. Isaac mentioned that Allie hasn’t been to the Pack house since last weekend, so I’m sure they’ll be excited about some alone-time too.”

“All week?” Derek asked, his eyebrows shooting up. 

Stiles shrugged, “Something about another fight with her mom.”

“That sucks.”

Stiles nodded and then glanced over his shoulder as Ben finally made his way into the kitchen. He broke into a wide grin at the sight of the kid and reached his arms out. 

Ben smiled before stepping close to Stiles, “You saw me like… an hour ago.”

“I know,” Stiles said, wrapping his arms around Ben’s shoulders and squeezing. “But you’re wearing the shirt. This is the first shirt I bought you. It’s one of my favorites.”

Ben shifted slightly so he could run his fingers along the purple sequins on the front and smiled down at them. 

Derek reached out and pulled Ben into a hug as well, “Well I haven’t seen you since last night.”

Ben sighed as he wrapped his arms around Derek and inhaled deeply. “You always smell like too many people after school.” He rubbed his face across Derek’s chest before looking up, “I think I’m having a growth spurt.”

“Yea?” Derek asked, grinning down at Ben. “That’s awesome.”

Ben nodded before turning toward the front door, “They’re here!” Ben ran to the front door and threw it open before trotting toward the driveway where Isaac was parking. He threw himself into Isaac’s arms, and Isaac laughed and twirled him before they moved around toward Allison, who wrapped her arms around the pair. 

“Are you guys hungry?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at Stiles and Derek. 

“Yes!” Ben answered with a grin. 

“Alright, let me just throw our bags inside and use the bathroom, and then we can head right out, ‘kay?” Allison moved to grab the bags while she spoke and Stiles held his hand out to take one as Derek stepped in to wrap his arms around Isaac and Ben. 

The two humans walked into the house, exchanging matching grins. After putting the bags down by the couch, Stiles and Allison finally hugged. 

“How’s everything with your mom?” Stiles asked quietly. 

Allison scowled. “She’s driving me crazy, but… otherwise alright. She didn’t want me to come down this weekend. She says I spend too many weekends down here.”

“And your dad still isn’t saying anything?”

“No,” she frowned, before glancing at the front door surreptitiously. “Can you…” she put her fingers to her lips and then waved at the door. Stiles raised his eyebrows in surprise, but put up a silencing charm with a gesture. “My dad is like, genuinely okay with the pack. I mean, he hangs out with your dad and Erica's dad basically every weekend. But my mom is just… she seems to be withdrawing more and more. And then she’s been getting more and more demanding and nosy.”

Stiles pursed his lips. He knew that Allison wouldn’t have asked for the silencing charm unless she didn’t want Isaac to know about her real concerns. “Do you think she poses a threat to the pack?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I mean… I want to say no. She’s my mom. Part of me doesn’t want to believe that she would hurt anyone I love… but… she’s been talking to my grandfather more than usual lately, as well as a few of her old friends, people who are still more actively involved in hunting.”

“Do you mind if I talk to Laura about your concerns?” 

She shook her head and stared at him with wide eyes. “Would you?” 

He nodded and chewed on his lip for a moment before glancing at the door. “Can you think of anything else that might be weird or unusual?”

Allison shook her head quickly and Stiles nodded. He waved his hand at the ward to pull it down and shook himself gently. “Let’s go meet up with these hungry wolves.”

She forced a small grin and nodded. 

The five of them all climbed into Isaac’s car and drove the ten minutes to the taco carts. Everyone split up to order their favorites from various carts before meeting back up at one of the tables. Isaac was filling them in on things that were happening back home when Ben interrupted him. 

“Hey Allie,” Ben asked, turning back to the group after staring off into the crowd, “do you think my hair is long enough to braid yet?” He fingered at the ends of his hair, which hung down to his collarbone. 

“Yea, probably,” she said slowly, “particularly if we start up high in a French braid.”

He nodded thoughtfully and took another bite of his taco. After a moment, he glanced back up, “Will you teach me? Tonight?”

“Of course,” she grinned widely. 

Ben’s smile was blinding in return and Derek bumped Ben’s knee with his, “You know I know how to braid hair, too.”

“You do?” 

Derek nodded, “It was kind of a required skill in my household growing up, since I had three sisters.”


	2. Chapter 2

Allison quietly closed and locked the front door before slipping off her shoes and hanging up her coat. She knew that all of the weres in the house had heard her come in, but it still felt wrong to be too noisy this late at night. 

She padded her way upstairs and left the bedroom door open as she climbed into Isaac’s bed. She pulled his pillow close as the tears finally started to spill. 

Laura closed the door behind her softly and Allison felt the bed dip behind her as Laura climbed in. She held her tight and waited for Allison’s tears to slow before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’ve been fighting with my mom for hours,” Allison whispered. “I just finally had to get out of the house. She didn’t want me to go with Isaac to spend the weekend down in Stanford again. She said I spend too many weekends down there. And then Isaac offered to stay home so that she wouldn’t be upset, and I hate that I’m making him feel like he has to choose between Derek and Stiles, and me. If my mom’s drama was only affecting me, I could deal with it, but Isaac doesn’t deserve to get dragged into it. He feels guilty already because he blames himself for my mom being such an asshole.”

Laura sighed deeply. “I know you went down to visit them last week. She must be extra mad that you were planning to go down two weeks in a row. How has your dad been through all of this?”

Allison snorted. “He’s been trying to stay out of it, for the most part, over the last couple weeks, but tonight he told my mom she was going too far.”

“I’ve talked with him a few times about it,” Laura admitted. “He doesn’t want to contradict your mom, because he said that if she feels like he doesn’t have her back, she might dig in her heels even more--”

“Like that’s even possible,” Allison grumbled. 

“But he also is worried that he’ll lose you if your mom keeps picking fights with you,” Laura finished. 

Allison rolled over so she could face Laura. “I don’t want to lose either of them.” She sighed. “But I also don’t want to lose Isaac or the pack. And I’m starting to get to the point where I don’t think my mom will ever be okay with this.”

Laura shook her head sadly. “I don’t think she will either.”

“But my dad… he seems… I know that he is genuinely friends with John and Marco, and…” Allison shrugged finally, unable to find the right words. 

“He accepts us,” Laura finished. “He’s not fully pack in the same way that John and Marco are, but he genuinely could be. Your mom has always held herself back, and no matter how many times Cynthia or Noshiko reach out to her… she hasn’t even accepted any of their offers for friendship.”

Allison was silent for a moment. “We’ve always had a small family. And since we moved here, we haven’t seen any of the extended family. My dad said they’re all more extreme hunters and that he doesn’t agree with their stance on things, so I totally understand why he’s been staying away from them. But at first, I missed them all. And then you guys all became my new family.” She sighed. “I see how close Erica, Boyd, and James are, and how Cynthia and Marco have basically adopted Boyd. I’m glad they’re all so close.” She chuckled as she added, “And I know you’ve basically adopted Isaac, Stiles and Ben.”

“Has Isaac told you that we offered him the Hale name?” Laura asked softly. Allison’s eyes widened as she shook her head. Laura nodded slowly. “It was after that last fight with his dad.”

“The one where the neighbors called the cops on them?”

Laura nodded. “He said he’d think about it, but he said he didn’t want to make any decision yet,” she added softly. “He said he wanted to talk to you about it, since you guys have talked about getting married someday.”

Allison marveled. “Allison Hale? Laura that would be… I’d be honored.”

Laura kissed her hair. “We’d be happy to share with you too.”

*

“Don’t you realize that constantly picking fights with her is just driving her into the pack’s arms even more?”

“Is that why you don’t fight it? Is that your strategy?” Victoria yelled. “You’re hoping to win her back from the pack by just… waiting? What if that doesn’t play out?”

“I’m not trying to win her back!” Chris shouted back. “Because we haven’t lost her! I’m supporting our daughter because I love her and she loves the pack, and you’re supposed to support the people that you love.”

“Are you accusing me of not loving my own daughter?”

“Of course you love her,” Chris retorted. “But you’re not expressing it in a healthy way. Controlling her isn’t healthy. She’s an adult now. We have to let her make her own decisions. We’ve done the best we could in raising her, and now it’s our job to support her as she navigates through life.”

“Well we must have been terrible parents then.”

“Victoria,” Chris said softly. “Don’t say that.”

“We shouldn’t have moved here,” she said angrily. “When we saw that there was an Alpha, and that they handled the omega that drew our attention in the first place, we should have moved. And when we realized that Allison was hanging out with the pack members,” she shook her head, “we should have done something about it. She was already late to start her training then, and even after learning about it you wouldn’t let me initiate her the proper way. You’ve spoiled her and gotten us in this position!”

“I don’t see it as a bad position to be in!” Chris started pacing. “I didn’t want to initiate her the old way because it’s traumatic and I didn’t want to see her suffer. Just because that’s how it was done with us doesn’t mean we needed to do it to her. And I have been training her! For years now. You just don’t want to participate or help because you don’t think it’s traditional enough! But she’s good, Victoria! She has better aim than even I do with the bow, crossbow, and handgun. And she’s so fast with knives, I bet she could even take you.” Victoria raised an eyebrow but remained silent. “Victoria, please understand. Just because she’s doing things differently doesn’t mean she’s doing them wrong. She trains with the pack, and they make her faster and more agile.”

“And you think it’s a good thing? That she trains with those animals?”

“How can you call them that?” Chris demanded, stopping to stare at his wife for a moment before continuing to pace. “We’ve had Laura and Isaac over for dinner at our house! We’ve been to their house! Many times! They’re people, Victoria. People first.” He sighed deeply. “We were never supposed to view them as animals or the enemy. It’s our job to keep people safe. Our job was never to exterminate all of the weres, but to make sure that they’re not out of control or a danger to the people around them.”

“So?”

“And Laura’s pack is clearly not out of control. Laura is a good Alpha. Everyone in the pack has perfect control. They’re not a threat to anyone.”

“Their very existence is a threat to everyone!”

Chris threw his hands up. “No it isn’t!”

Victoria was silent for a moment, just staring at Chris with her arms crossed. 

“Fine,” she said after a moment. “If you’re so sure that they aren’t a threat, and Allison really is so well-trained, then you won’t be upset if I get more involved in her training. I want to make sure you haven’t been slipping.”

Chris ground his teeth, “Fine.” 

*

Stiles clapped his hands together and sighed. He always felt tingly after infusing new layers of spells into the crystals he had spread all throughout Beacon Hills to protect the territory. He had been coming back to Beacon Hills at least once a month for the past year and half while he was at school so he could add layers of spells to protect the house, the preserve, and the whole town.

“We’re finally done?” Laura asked with a grin. 

He laughed and reached his arm out. Laura obligingly stepped in close and hugged him. “We are,” he agreed. “And honestly, I think these crystals are close to being tapped. But I can say with a level of confidence that no one who wishes the pack harm will be able to cross this line. And if they’re activated by either you or me, nobody who isn’t pack will be able to cross this line.”

“I’m still impressed you were able to imprint the entire pack on them,” Laura noted. 

Stiles sniffed and grinned. “That’s what you get when you have multiple experienced Sparks combining their knowledge. Araceli still won’t tell me how old she is, but she has by far been the most helpful teacher I’ve ever had before in my life. She teaches me more in each weekend training session than I’ve learned in most classes I’ve ever taken.”

“Don’t tell your dad that,” Laura laughed. “Stanford is not cheap, even with your scholarships.”

Stiles laughed. “Well, I don’t plan on being a Spark-for-hire, so I still need the degree from Stanford to help with my actual career. All of this,” Stiles gestured at the woods around the Hale house, “this is just for the pack. I want to actually contribute to the world too.”

“Come on,” Laura said, tugging gently on Stiles’ shoulders, “it smells like dinner is almost ready.”

“I’m glad we started at the widest circles of crystals and worked our way toward the house,” Stiles pointed out. “It’d be a hassle if we had to come all the way back now.”

Laura pointed, “See? One of the many reasons I keep you around. You’re always thinking.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a couple of my OCs in it... I tried to build in some context clues about them, but you can also see the notes at the end for a quick run-down of who they are.

“Derek’s home!” Ben said, slamming his book shut and jumping off the couch. 

Stiles grinned as he shut the stove off. He was proud of how good he was getting with timing the dinners. He only cooked a few nights a week, usually when Derek stayed late at work because of his club or professional development or something, but he was definitely getting better. 

Stiles arranged the meal on serving platters and was just placing it on the table when Derek finally came into the room. 

He stopped to stare at Stiles, or more probable, at what Stiles was wearing. 

“Do you like it?” Stiles asked with his widest grin. “Ben and I found it at a thrift store and I couldn’t help myself. 

“It’s… an apron with a wolf on it?” Derek asked before starting to laugh. “How do you even find these things?”

Stiles burst out laughing. “Did you read it yet?”

“What do you call a wolf that meditates?” Derek read aloud before chuckling and rolling his eyes. “Aware wolf. A werewolf joke? I can’t believe you.”

Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck finally, “I know. But it was so perfect.”

Derek slipped his arms around Stiles’ lower back, pulling him so their bodies were flush against each other before deeply kissing him. 

“How was work?” Stiles asked eventually. 

“Good. The Debate Team is really shaping up,” he answered with a smile.

Ben came up behind them with plates and utensils, which he placed on the table before wrapping his arms around the pair. He rubbed one hand up Derek’s back and into his hair. “Why do so many people have to touch you at work? Don’t they know what personal space is?”

Derek laughed. “It’s mostly when I have to walk through the hallways. They get really crowded. Otherwise nobody really touches me. It’s just… the building is so full of scent that it permeates into everything.”

Ben shuddered a little. “I know Laura said she thinks my control is good enough to start actually going to school in the fall instead of continuing homeschooling, but… I don’t know if I want to.”

“Remember what she said, though, pup,” Stiles pointed out. “We can put you in a smaller school, one that’s less… smelly. Derek works in a big school with almost a thousand kids in it. Laura found a couple private schools that only have a like two or three hundred kids in the whole school.”

“Yea, something like that would probably be great as a transition, or you could stay in one of those types of schools until you graduate,” Derek pointed out. 

“Yea… I’ll keep thinking about it,” Ben said with a slight frown. 

“But also remember that there’s no rush,” Derek added, ruffling Ben’s hair. “If you don’t want to start in the fall, you can always change your mind in the future.”

“That’s a good point,” Ben conceded before moving around the table and sitting down. 

Stiles smiled at him for a moment before kissing Derek softly. “Come on, let’s eat while it’s still hot,” he said with a grin. 

“Are you going to keep that on?” Derek asked, pointing at the apron. “It’s ridiculous.”

Stiles grinned, “I am. And the ridiculousness is most of why I love it.”

*

Ben was waiting on the front steps the next weekend when Isaac parked the car. He waved, bouncing on his toes and then ran down to meet them in the driveway. He threw his arms around Allison’s waist as Isaac got out of the car and came around to wrap his arms around the pair. 

“Allie, I can’t wait to show you what I drew this week!” Ben said, looking up with a wide smile. “And Isaac, I know it’s kind of like, tradition to have tacos tonight, but my friend Jasmine is coming over with her moms tonight, so we’re going to make tacos instead of going out!”

Isaac ruffled Ben’s dark hair, “I know, Stiles texted me earlier. That’s awesome!”

“Plus, I haven’t met them yet,” Allison pointed out, “and I’m really excited to meet your friends. Let’s go inside so I can see your drawings.”

Ben ran up to the front door and opened it, “Stiles! They’re here!”

Derek winced slightly since he was standing in the doorway when Ben basically shouted into his face, but he pulled Isaac and Allison into tight hugs. “Stiles is in the kitchen,” he explained with a grin. “You’re really sure you don’t mind if they come over?”

“Bro, we’ve said it’s cool, like, a million times already,” Isaac replied with a grin. “Allie hasn’t met them yet, and it’s always fun to watch Stiles get so awed in Sumaya’s presence.”

“He loves that he gets to talk to multiple different experienced Sparks,” Derek agreed.

“Allie!” Ben called from deeper in the house. 

“Coming pup!” She called back with a grin as she walked toward his room. “Hi Stiles,” she said as she blew a kiss into the kitchen on her way passed. 

“Hi Allie!” He called back. 

Isaac came into the kitchen and hugged Stiles from behind while he chopped tomatoes. He pressed a kiss to Stiles’ hair before stepping back. “Do you need help?”

“Nah, I’m basically done,” Stiles responded. “You can have a seat and hang out, though. You want a drink or anything?”

“I’ll help myself,” Isaac said with a grin as he grabbed a seltzer and then sat on one of the stools. 

Derek finally came into the kitchen and leaned against Isaac, one arm over his shoulder. “I can’t wait to go home again in two weeks. I don’t know why, but I’ve been feeling extra homesick lately.”

Isaac turned and rubbed his nose across Derek’s collarbone. “It’s because Laura hasn’t had time to come down in a while,” Isaac answered, his face still pressed into Derek’s shirt. “You’re missing her. The last time you saw her was a few weeks ago when you came up to Beacon Hills, right? And the time before that was over a month too.”

“Oh,” Derek said, his eyebrows scrunching together in thought. “I didn’t realize.”

“But you’ve been doing amazingly,” Stiles said, coming over and wrapping his arms around the pair. 

“Thanks, babe,” Derek said softly before leaning in to kiss Stiles. 

“Uh… Stiles?” Isaac asked. “Are you wearing an apron with a werewolf pun on it?”

Stiles threw his head back and laughed. “He is,” Derek answered, leaning in to nuzzle against Stiles’ neck.

“The three of you are so weird sometimes,” Allison commented as she walked into the kitchen. “This is why my mom thinks we’re all dating each other, by the way.” She pulled Stiles into a hug, and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Derek lifted his head up from where he had rested it against Isaac’s hair. “Oh, Sumaya and Frankie are here.”

“Oh!” Stiles said, turning and rushing back to the counter, “I’m not done! You all distracted me with your pack hugs and cuddles!”

The evening was filled with laughter and talking. Even though Isaac had only met Sumaya and Frankie once before, and Allie never had, they both dove into the conversation like they were all old friends. 

Ben and Jasmine happily ate dinner with the adults before disappearing into Ben’s room to play video games together. 

“Allie, I’m so glad to have someone to share my bottle of wine,” Frankie said at one point. “None of the rest of them drink, and then I end up drinking all of it and regretting it in the morning.”

Allison laughed, “It’s nice to have someone younger than my dad to drink with. Most of the other humans in the pack are his age, or they don’t drink.”

“Scott drinks,” Stiles pointed out. “And so does Lydia.”

“Yea,” Allison agreed, “but we only see them a few times a year. And Scott always gets weirdly reminiscent when he’s drunk.”

Stiles laughed, “You’re right. He does like to talk about high school a lot when he’s drinking.”

“We really can’t drink?” Ben asked suddenly, stepping out of his room. 

“Well, we can,” Derek responded easily, “but it doesn’t really do anything unless we drink an absurd amount of liquor. We metabolize it too quickly.”

“Oh,” Ben replied softly. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Why, pup? You were excited about getting drunk someday?” Isaac teased with a soft smile as he reached out an arm for Ben, who stepped into it and wrapped an arm over Isaac’s shoulders. 

“No. I don’t know. It just seems like a thing that everyone does in movies and stuff.”

“Well, if you really want to, we can help you get drunk,” Stiles promised. “When you’re older, though.”

“Really?” Ben asked, perking up. 

“I think all the other weres have done it at some point or another,” Isaac said with a shrug. “Erica had never gotten drunk before Laura bit her, so we made a night of it after we graduated high school. I think Laura spent hundreds of dollars on vodka or something, and it was kind of gross, but it worked. For a while at least.”

“Was it worth it?” Ben asked.

“Nah,” Isaac replied. “It was fun and all, like while we were drunk, but then the whole sobering up part really sucked, and then we just went back to normal.” He shrugged and smirked at Allison. “And that all took like, four hours.”

“See, I’m a little jealous about that, though,” Stiles said with a laugh. “We can get drunk like regular humans, but then our magic doesn’t work right, and I just don’t like that feeling.”

“Me neither,” Sumaya agreed. 

“Cheers to staying in control of our magic,” Stiles said with a grin as he raised his seltzer toward Sumaya. She cheerfully tapped her drink against his. 

“And cheers to our metabolisms making drinking vaguely pointless,” Isaac said with a grin to Derek, who returned the gesture.

“And cheers to being the boring old humans who get to enjoy being inebriated every once in a while,” Frankie said with a wide grin. 

*

Allison wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm.

“How the hell am I supposed to be able to show off what I can do like this?” Allison yelled in frustration. “You’ve had me going through the motions and exercises on thin air for over an hour now. What does that prove? Would you at least spar with me so that I have a real opponent?”

“What would that prove?” Victoria asked, arms crossed. “You should be able to beat me easily since you’re younger and more agile. Beating me wouldn’t prove anything.”

“I think it would prove something,” Allison grumbled. “You know, a ‘practice what you preach’ type thing?”

Victoria pursed her lips before turning and pulling off her jacket. She stretched for a moment or two before picking up four practice knives and tossing two to Allison. 

“Ready?”

Twenty minutes later, both women were sweating and breathing heavily. Allison had beat her mother four out of five matches. 

“Your form is sloppy,” Victoria said roughly. “You’re fast, but sloppy.”

“Am I sloppy, or am I just interpreting and executing the moves differently from you?” Allison asked with a tight grin. “If it’s effective, then what’s wrong with it? I don’t telegraph my moves anymore. I’m faster than most humans, and as long as I’m armed with at least one knife, I can at least hold my own against all the weres except Laura, who I still struggle with. My aim is better than dad’s and I can track the whole pack in almost any weather. I’m good, Mom. I’m just different from you.”

“Different can get you killed,” her mother said shortly as she started packing up her practice knives and shrugged her jacket on.

“We’re done already?” Allison asked.

“Already? You just complained that we’ve been at this for over an hour.”

“No, I complained that you had me doing the same boring thing for over an hour. I figured you’d want me to demonstrate with a bow or gun first, and then maybe run the obstacle course.”

“Obstacle course?” Victoria’s eyebrows shot up. “You built an obstacle course?”

“No,” Allison said with a wide grin. “Stiles did. I’m the only one who can activate it, so no random person can stumble across it and realize it’s magic. But it changes constantly so it actually tests my agility and reaction-time and things like that.”

“Show me,” Victoria said. “Your father is suitably impressed with your marksmanship, so I’m not worried about that right now, but I’m not sure I trust mixing magic with training.”

Allison walked a few minutes deeper into the preserve before stopping at a fallen tree trunk. She waved her hand over a small pile of leaves and a crystal appeared on the ground. 

“A couple years ago, Stiles realized that he could store magic in crystals like these,” Allison explained. “It took us months, but he finally figured out how to store each obstacle so that they are randomized. It’s a set course, but the order that things show up in, and their proximity to one another, are random and unpredictable. In the beginning, there were a few set-ups that were impossible to get in or out of.”

“Wouldn’t that have been dangerous for you?”

Allison shook her head and sighed, “I didn’t run the course for the few first weeks. It was always one of the weres, until Stiles worked out all of the kinks in the spells.”

“He forced his pack members to act as guinea pigs?”

“No, mom, what? They all volunteered. Plus, nobody wanted me to do it until they were sure it was safe. It was fun for them.”

“And you’re sure it’s safe now?”

Allison shrugged. “I’ve been running it almost every day for months now and haven’t gotten hurt once, other than some bruises, but those were honestly my fault because I wasn’t paying enough attention.” 

Her mother squinted and crossed her arms. “Alright, show me.”

*

Chris knocked on the front door as he opened it. Marco and Cynthia insisted that he just come in since he was part of the pack, but he still felt the need to announce himself.

“Chris!” John shouted from the kitchen. “Perfect! You’re here with the beer!”

Marco followed John out of the kitchen, “I hope you’re in the mood for nachos! And Cynthia made her famous chilli.”

“I made it so that I could promise Stiles that his father would eat some vegetables today,” Cynthia said with a wry grin as she came over and pressed a kiss to Chris’ cheek. “I wish I could stay longer, boys, but I have to get going so there isn’t too much traffic getting past San Francisco.”

“And Ben is staying at Laura’s next week, right?” Marco asked, wrapping his arms around his wife. “So I get to keep you to myself for a whole week?”

Cynthia nodded. “It’s a Blue Moon, so they’re going to do a camping trip out into the preserve.”

“Give our love to the boys,” John said with a grin. 

“I always do,” Cynthia replied as she lifted her bag and left. 

There was a moment of silence as Marco watched Cynthia pull out of the driveway before he turned back around. “So, now that we’re officially Team Human, who’s ready for those nachos?”

Chris laughed as he pulled out beers and handed them around. “Someday I’ll get used to that.”

“Yea?” John asked as he opened his beer. “Tell me when that is, because I still sometimes struggle with the idea that my son’s magic can reach us even here.”

“Well, my wife and kids are werewolves,” Marco said with a grin, “and sometimes that seems like such a normal sentence, and other times it seems beyond strange.”

“But hey,” John said, holding his beer up, “that’s why we’ve got each other.”

Chris grinned as he toasted with his beer. “That’s why we’ve got each other,” he echoed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben is a 13 year old werewolf who Stiles and Derek adopted about 2 years ago when he was semi-feral 
> 
> Sumaya is a teacher who works with Derek and is also a Spark  
> Frankie is Sumaya's wife  
> Jasmine is their kid. She's 2 years younger than Ben, but they bonded because they can talk about magic and werewolves and everything together
> 
> Marco is Erica's dad (a human)  
> Cynthia is Erica's mom (a werewolf) and she also spends a couple days each week living at Stiles and Derek's house so she can homeschool Ben


	4. Chapter 4

Laura walked in the front door and stopped in the doorway looking into the living room. Derek, Stiles, and Ben were cuddling on one sofa while Isaac and Allison were entangled on the other. “Did Stiles tell you I wanted to talk to all of you?” 

Derek and Isaac both glanced suspiciously at Stiles who laughed. “Ah yes, I tricked you all with my cunning suggestion of watching tv.”

Allison joined in Stiles’ laughter. “Laura, what’s up?”

“I want to tell you guys before the rest of the pack,” Laura came to perch on the couch near Derek. “I started dating someone a few weeks ago.”

Derek leaned forward grinning, and ignored Stiles as he flailed when he tipped to the side with the sudden lack of support. “Really?” 

“Yea,” Laura said with a shy smile. “I want to introduce him to the pack, but I wanted to tell you first, and maybe introduce him to you first, instead of overwhelming him with the whole pack right away. He’s really great, but I think meeting the whole pack all at once would be a lot.”

“He’s supernatural?” Stiles asked, leaning around Derek. “Otherwise explaining the whole pack thing will be kind of hard, won’t it?”

Laura’s smile grew. “He is.”

“How’d you manage that?” Isaac asked with a laugh. “Without any of us picking up on it?”

“He works with me,” Laura explained. “That’s why you didn’t pick up on any new scents.”

“Holy shit,” Stiles breathed out. “Does my dad know?”

Laura nodded and chuckled. “He’s getting better at identifying supernatural folks, now that he’s got some ideas of what to look for. I’m sure Chris has been helping him with that. But he called me into Jordan’s interview, and, well, Stiles, your dad was really satisfied with himself for figuring it out.”

Stiles grinned, “And what, it was love at first sight?”

“What is he?” Derek asked.

“Not exactly,” Laura said to Stiles, “although we did go out for lunch for the first time that day. At first we were just talking about how safe it is for the community here and things like that.” She finally turned to address her brother. “He’s a regular old shapeshifter.”

“Wait, those are real?” Ben asked.

“Yea, pup,” Stiles said. “They’re not affected by the moon at all, like you guys, but they also don’t have the same kinds of super strength. They’re really just regular humans, who can then turn into some kind of regular animal.”

“What does he turn into?” Isaac asked.

Laura smirked. “That’s the funniest part. He changes into a big black dog.”

Everyone stared at Laura for a second before bursting into laughter. 

Derek reached out after a moment and pulled Laura close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I can’t wait to meet him,” he murmured into her hairline. 

“I’ll see if he can come to dinner tomorrow, alright?”

*

“Hello?”

“Chris?” Derek called from the kitchen. “Come on in.”

A few seconds later Chris walked into the kitchen. “Hey Derek. Is Laura home?”

“She’s out in the Preserve with Ben and Stiles,” Derek answered as he put a lid on the pot of sauce and lowered the flame so he could turn and face Chris. “What’s up?”

Chris sighed deeply and looked around the kitchen. Derek turned to the fridge and pulled out two beers. He opened both before handing one to Chris, who accepted it but raised his eyebrow at Derek. 

“John says that drinking alone is sad, but sharing a beer is companionable.” Derek chuckled after taking a sip of beer. “One of his many pieces of dad advice.”

Chris huffed out a small laugh before taking his own sip of beer and settling on one of the island stools. “You know, we first came to Beacon Hills because we had heard reports of an omega, but we pretty quickly realized that you and Laura must have taken care of him. But we didn’t leave.” He looked down at his beer. “I was tired of moving constantly and I wanted Allison to have some kind of stability. Victoria and I discussed how it was our responsibility to make sure that you and Laura were safe, and that you didn’t try to recklessly build a pack and let loose a bunch of new werewolves on the community. But I think that even then I knew I was done hunting.”

Derek was silent for a moment. “What changed?”

Chris shook his head. “It was a million little things. And then Laura and Stiles walked into my kitchen one day and threw the world I thought I knew on its edge. I’ve never seen anyone use magic the way Stiles does. It’s like an extension of himself. I know now that’s because he studied so much with you two in the beginning, but having the gun I was holding take itself apart in my hands? That rocked me to my core, knowing I was so helpless. I wanted to lash out, to do anything to protect myself…” Chris finally looked up at Derek, who was leaning against the counter and studying him. “And then they told me about Kate, and everything she had done, and that wrecked me. I… I’ve always known that my sister and I had different approaches to things. She definitely revelled in the hunt, while I looked at it more as an unfortunate responsibility. But… in that moment when Stiles disarmed every weapon in my house, I realized what was intrinsically wrong with the way I viewed the Code.”

“What’s that?”

“I can honestly say that I never killed anyone who wasn’t a present danger to myself or others. Everyone that I have ever killed was actively trying to hurt someone, or had recently killed someone.” Chris took a long swig of beer. “But when Stiles rendered me helpless, my first instinct was to lash out.” Chris looked back up at Derek, and his expression was more broken and pleading than Derek had ever seen it before. “Everyone knows a cornered animal or a cornered person is dangerous. Stiles said that we were lucky that you didn’t follow the same Code that we do - but if you did, you’d have every right to hunt us back. How could I keep hunting, knowing that the people I killed probably weren’t all that dangerous in the first place? What if they were only dangerous because I had cornered them? What else could I expect from them, but violence?” He sighed. “I’m sorry for unloading on you. I know that my own struggles with my conscience have nothing to do with you. If anything, I feel like I should be apologizing to you constantly, instead of… whatever the hell this is.”

Derek chuckled. “Chris, you already apologized. Years ago. I accepted your apology. We’re good. I mean, I won’t ever be able to forgive your sister, but I know that you’re a good man. We’ve all made mistakes in life, and none of us are entirely innocent of any wrong-doing.”

“I just still can’t get over how Stiles walked into my life and flipped my worldview. Did you know he didn’t even know what the Code was, when he walked into my house? He assumed it had something to do with monsters, specifically, not just ‘we hunt those who hunt us.’ He literally laughed at us. He told us we should be grateful he didn’t follow that code. And it wasn’t even a prepared response or anything. He literally just… understood everything so instantly and thoroughly.”

“Did anyone ever tell you how Stiles and I got together?”

Chris paused with the beer halfway to his mouth and blinked several times in confusion at the abrupt change of subject. “No?”

Derek laughed softly. “It connects, I promise.” Chris shrugged and took a sip of beer. “So you know how Stiles is older than Allie and Scott and them because he was held back when he was younger?” Chris nodded. “So at the beginning of his senior year he was just like, idly talking, you know how he does, without actually thinking or anything. And he mentioned that he wished he could date someone like me.” Derek rubbed at his eyebrows. “It’s embarrassing to admit, but I almost lost control at the idea. I’d been in love with him for almost as long as I’d known him, and the idea that he might like me too…” Chris raised his eyebrows. “I pinned him against the wall. Eyes glowing. The whole deal. And do you know what he did?”

Chris shook his head. “Kissed you?”

“No,” Derek laughed. “He held my hand and told me he’d wait as long as I needed. He was 18 and still in high school, and he held my hand and comforted me because he understood it all. He saw through everything and realized that as much as I liked him and wanted him, that I wasn’t ready, so he told me he’d wait. He didn’t ask me to wait. He made it clear that he’d wait for me.” Derek shook his head, smiling fondly. “He looks at the world differently from the rest of us, and he sees through all of the bullshit that trips the rest of us up. That’s part of why he’s so great as an Emissary and as a Spark. He doesn’t see anything as impossible. He just sees things that he hasn’t thought through yet. He comes at things from all angles, except his mind works so fast that most of the time it just seems like he’s doing it simultaneously.”

Chris was silent for a moment while he thought about what Derek had said. “So basically, what you’re saying is that I got the Stiles treatment?”

Derek laughed. “And you know about the night he saved Laura, right?”

“Didn’t he hit the omega with his Jeep?” 

“Yea, and then he did a three-point turn so he could put Laura in his trunk, even though she was a half-dead wolf and some of her internal organs were visible. Then, when she shifted back to human in his arms and asked to be taken to Deaton, he just rolled with it. He knew nothing about any of this, and he held a half-dead wolf that turned into a half-dead girl, and he just shrugged and kept going. I mean, he was freaking out and talking to himself, but he shrugged it off and accepted it and then did the right thing. That’s Stiles.”

“Wow,” Chris said. “I guess I never got the full story with all the details. I just knew that he had a premonition about Laura and then ended up helping her out.”

Derek looked toward the back of the house, “They’re back. You want another beer?”

Chris laughed. “Sure. You’re still drinking with me?”

“Yea. I only have a few more weeks that I get to hold this over Stiles’ head, since he still can’t legally drink, so I have to enjoy it while I can.”

“I thought Laura said he doesn’t like drinking?” Chris asked as he got up to put his empty bottle in the recycling bin.

Derek nodded, pulling two more beers out of the fridge. “He just gets annoyed that it’s technically forbidden, not that he actually wants to drink much anyway. It messes with his magic, apparently.”

“That makes sense,” Chris said as he leaned against the counter. “I imagine if you drank enough to actually get drunk it’d mess with your control too, just like it does with us plain old humans.”

Derek chuckled. “I don’t remember. The only times I’ve ever taken the effort to get drunk just ended in me crying a lot.” Chris raised his eyebrow questioningly. “It was just after the fire,” Derek explained easily. “It wasn’t the healthiest coping mechanism, but it did help us talk through things. Laura hadn’t known about Kate at all… so being drunk helped me get that off my chest.”

The kitchen door opened and Laura walked in, followed by Stiles and Ben. “Chris,” Laura said with a grin, coming forward to hug him. “What a pleasant surprise!”

“You’re surprised?” Chris asked. “You must have realized I was here.”

“Well, of course,” Laura laughed. “But I was still surprised then. How are you?”

Chris took a deep breath and looked thoughtfully down at his beer. “Better than I was before, honestly. Something about beers and companionship?” He raised an eyebrow at Derek, who held up his beer in a silent cheers.

“That’s what my dad always says,” Stiles said with a wide grin before he pressed a kiss to Derek’s cheek. “Chris are you staying for dinner? I think Isaac and Allie will be back soon.”

“That’d be really nice,” Chris conceded before looking to Laura. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” she answered with an easy smile. “And we’ve got plenty of food.”

“Alright. Let me call Victoria and see if she has plans.” Chris pulled his phone out and walked to the front porch so he could have a modicum of privacy while on the phone. 

Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek and squeezed gently. “Did you try the Stilinski charm? I saw the beers. My dad taught you that!”

Derek laughed softly and squeezed Stiles back. “I think Chris just wanted to talk. But yes, I took your dad’s advice.”

“I’m so proud of you babe,” Stiles grinned as he pressed a quick kiss to Derek’s lips. 

“Why didn’t you, like, text one of us?” Ben asked idly, looking up from his phone for the first time since he sat on one of the stools. “We could have hurried back. I know you don’t like him all that much.”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” Derek protested. “It’s just… we’ve never been close. I know he feels guilty about what his sister did to me, and to our family, and I think that guilt makes him feel uncomfortable around me sometimes. I don’t have anything against him at all.”

“Is this one of your ‘forgive everyone because we’ve all done bad things’ type things again?” Ben asked with a wry grin.

Derek laughed and stepped out of Stiles’ arms so he could ruffle Ben’s long hair. “I don’t think I ever said ‘forgive everyone.’ I meant that everyone’s done bad things in their past, and you have to consider that. I don’t have to forgive Chris because he’s never done anything bad to me. His sister, on the other hand, I couldn’t ever forgive her for what she did.”

“Hmm,” Stiles agreed. “Same.”

“Well, Victoria has a migraine, so it turns out I wasn’t going to be eating with her anyway,” Chris said as he reentered the kitchen. “So thank you again for the invite.”

“Of course,” Laura grinned as she came in from her study. “And I hope you don’t mind meeting my boyfriend Jordan. He just let me know he can come by tonight.”

“Boyfriend?” Chris asked, surprise evident on his face.

Laura nodded. “And you’re never going to guess--”

“What kind of supernatural is he?” Chris asked with a soft laugh.

“A shapeshifter,” Laura answered with a wry smile.

“He changes into a dog!” Ben said enthusiastically, leaning around Stiles so he could see Chris’ reaction. “Laura told me I can’t ask him to change right away. That’d be rude.”

Chris threw his head back and laughed loudly. 

The front door opened and Allison rushed back into the kitchen, smiling widely. “Dad! I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Chris shrugged and wrapped his arms around Allison as she kissed his forehead. “I didn’t originally plan it. I just wanted to stop by to talk with Laura, and Derek and I got into talking instead.”

“And then we roped him into eating with us,” Stiles said with a grin as he took one of the bags out of Isaac’s hands. “Thanks for picking this stuff up, guys.”

“No problem,” Isaac said as he put the other bag on the counter and hip checked Stiles aside lightly. “How was your walk through the Preserve?”

“Good,” Stiles answered with a grin. “Ben’s getting fantastic at tracking us, and I added a few more layers of spells to some of the crystals.”

Half an hour later, John parked out front of the house. He had apparently insisted that Jordan leave work when he realized that he was invited to his first family dinner. 

“I love a good work ethic,” John laughed, clapping Jordan on the back as Laura came up to kiss him on the cheek. “But family dinner is family dinner. I couldn’t let him miss his first one.”

Chris looked around, “Oh shit wait - this was supposed to be for close family? I’m so sorry, I’ll leave. I shouldn’t intrude.”

And Derek put a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising from his chair, “Chris, you might not have realized, but we did.”

“What?” Chris looked around the table, still confused. 

“You are family,” Isaac explained. “See, Laura, Derek, and I were a little short on dads, but we’re lucky we found partners with some pretty awesome ones.”

John laughed easily, and reached over to pat Isaac on the back.

Laura turned Jordan toward the group. She pointed at Derek. “My brother Derek, his boyfriend Stiles, and his dad, who you obviously know.” She pointed at Isaac, “My adopted brother, Isaac, his girlfriend, Allie, and her dad, Chris.” She finally turned to wrap an arm around Ben’s shoulders. “My adopted baby brother, Ben.”

Jordan waved with a shy smile. “Laura and John have told me so much about all of you already. I’m so excited about finally getting to know you all.”

Ben leaned forward and smiled mischievously. “Laura said I’m not allowed to ask about your shapeshifting, but I just wanted to tell you that I’m so excited about getting to know you more too so we can talk about it eventually.”

Stiles laughed and threw a pillow at Ben. “Dude, that was the opposite of subtle.”

Jordan laughed. “It’s alright. I’m actually kind of excited about being able to talk about it. There are so few people I can discuss it with.”

Dinner was loud and lively. Jordan seemed to fit right in with everyone’s easy conversations, and Laura smiled widely through the entire meal. 

Laura rose from her chair to begin clearing the dishes while Stiles was animatedly telling a story, when he froze mid-sentence and stared off into the distance. 

“Stiles?” Derek asked from beside him, placing a hand on his arm in concern. 

Stiles shook himself gently. “I thought… I thought I felt something… but I must have been wrong.”

“You aren’t wrong very often,” Laura noted slowly from where she had paused, halfway through lifting a platter.

Stiles stared at her and wet his lips nervously. “I know.”

“Maybe we can do a sweep in the morning,” Derek pointed out. “The three of us? Like old times.”

“That would be good,” Stiles replied, although he still looked uncomfortable. “Anyway, where was I?”

*

The next morning, Chris was relieved to see that Victoria was feeling better when she came to have breakfast with him and Allison. 

“So yesterday I spoke with your father,” she said conversationally. 

Chris looked up abruptly and noticed Allison’s gesture mimic his own. “Why?”

“I just felt like it was time to catch up. It’s been so long since we’ve spoken.”

“Yes. Intentionally.” Chris said harshly. “Because he’s a lunatic.”

She tutted a few times. “You didn’t always think he was a lunatic. And I hope you can at least act polite when he comes to visit.”

Chris stared blankly at his wife for several heartbeats. “He’s not welcome here.”

“Well, he’ll be here tomorrow afternoon, so I hope you change your mind before then.”

Chris stood up suddenly. “You invited my father? Here?”

“And your sister,” Victoria added, continuing to eat her breakfast as if nothing was wrong with what she was saying. 

“You just plain old invited my most extremist relatives? To our house? Without telling them about the pack at all? Without telling Laura?” Chris pulled at his hair as he started to shout. Allison sat stock still, just silently watching her parents. 

“No, why should I have?” Victoria asked archly from where she continued to sit at the kitchen table. “They’re our family.”

“Because we’re part of a werewolf pack!” Chris shouted. “I would have figured that would have been pertinent information to share with them! If we had framed it well enough, we could have softened the blow!”

“We,” she spoke softly but with an intensity that silenced the room, “are not part of a werewolf pack. Allison is dating one of them currently. But we are Hunters.”

“Mom--”

Chris held his hand out to interrupt Allison. “Victoria. Allison is part of the pack, whether you like it or not. And Laura has invited both of us into the pack too.” He stepped closer to Allison and placed a hand on her shoulder. “For as long as Allison is part of the pack, I am too. Yes, even if that’s forever. We’re family,” he said, and his tone took on a pleading note. “We are. You know that I stopped talking to my father and my sister years ago. I don’t agree with the way they operate. I thought we agreed on that.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

“Victoria,” Chris cried. “How do you not understand? You put the pack in danger. You! We have to find a way to get rid of them before they discover the pack. Before they meet Isaac.”

“Dad,” Allison whispered, squeezing his hand.

“Go,” he said softly to her. “Call the pack. Call Stiles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm doing a terrible job of multitasking... I'm working on two separate fics for Nanowrimo this year b/c I'm a rebel and decided not to follow the rules... but the other one is flowing A LOT easier than this one is. Legitimately, I have most of the rest of this written, b/c I wrote the ending before I wrote the beginning. I just need to make sure it flows together. 
> 
> Also. 
> 
> Gerard and Kate are coming.   
> Or here already.   
> Who knows. 
> 
> O_O


	5. Chapter 5

“The crystals all feel fine,” Stiles said after visiting the sixth one. “Have you guys picked up on anything weird?”

“Well, some of them are near one of the hiking trails,” Laura pointed out. “So there’s some pretty standard traffic there.”

“But here,” Derek said, pointing at a patch of ground. “A woman sat here for a while.”

“You mean, like, she had a snack here or something?” Stiles asked.

Derek squatted down and studied the space. Stiles came to stand next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He let his Spark seep out of him so he could sense the area, but he still didn’t pick up on anything out of the usual. 

“She spent time near three other crystals,” Derek said softly. “She didn’t go particularly near any of them, but I’m not sure that I like the coincidence that she came close to so many of them. Stiles, can you tell if she did anything to the crystals?”

"She didn't," Stiles shook his head, a futile gesture since Derek wasn't looking at him. "I can't tell if she... noticed them or anything, but she definitely didn't do anything to them."

"Hmm," Derek grunted.

Laura and Stiles exchanged glances with each other over Derek’s back. 

“It’s not Kate,” he said simply, continuing to study the ground. 

“Laura, does her scent smell familiar at all?” Stiles asked. “Maybe she’s someone from town?”

Laura came over to join them, placing her hand on Derek’s shoulder so her position mirrored Stiles’. She inhaled deeply a few times before shaking her head. “I haven’t come across her, but I’ll remember her now, in case I do run into her.”

Derek rose slowly and turned to face Stiles and Laura. He reached his arms out and pulled them both in to hug him. “I’m scared out of my mind,” he said softly, burying his nose into Stiles’ neck. 

Stiles and Laura both tightened their arms. “I know, babe,” Stiles said softly, pressing a kiss to Derek’s ear. “But we’re going to do everything in our power to protect the pack.”

“And we’re strong,” Laura added softly. “We’re going to be alright.”

Derek nodded several times into Stiles’ neck before lifting his head. “Do you want to finish the circuit and then head back to the house?”

“Yea,” Laura said, giving Derek one last squeeze. 

Stiles dropped his hand down so he could tangle his fingers with Derek’s. 

*

“So, I don’t want to doubt any of you at all,” Isaac said softly as he lifted bags from the shopping cart to the trunk, “but Allie’s relatives have been in Beacon Hills for, like, four days now, right? And they haven’t done anything. Is it… possible… that they’re just here to visit?”

Derek sighed heavily as he picked up a bag. “I hope so, but I really doubt it. Kate was… not the type of person who would ever let something just… go. And Chris says his dad is actually worse. I feel like they’re planning something. They’re probably just biding their time.”

“Alright,” Isaac said slowly as he put the last bag down. “That’s… nerve-wracking.”

Derek shrugged as he walked around the cart to put his bag down. “But that’s why Laura told us not to go anywhere alone, and to keep Stiles’ talismans with us at all times, and things like--”

Isaac’s eyes widened in horror as he stared at the dart suddenly sticking out of Derek’s neck. 

Derek dropped his bag of food as he pressed his hand up against his neck, “Shit,” he whispered as the world turned hazy and he felt himself fall to the ground. 

*

Stiles dropped face-down onto the couch. He’d been running around all day long with Boyd and Chris to make sure that all of his crystals were safe, hidden, and still functioning. He had added a few extra layers to some of them just to be on the safe side. 

Overall they must have walked miles all around Beacon Hills. 

He still didn’t feel safe, but he knew, at least, that he had done his best to make sure the territory would help protect the pack. It had been an anxious few days for the whole pack, and as much as they were all anticipating something bad happening, the waiting was terrible in its own way.

“Stiles.”

“Laura?” Stiles asked, picking his head up suddenly at the tone of her voice. “What happened?”

She pursed her lips as he lifted himself from the couch. “I felt a spike of panic from Derek, and now both his and Isaac’s phones are off.”

“Fuck.”

“Yea,” Laura agreed tensely as Stiles threw out his magical senses. “Chris went home?” Laura nodded. “Who are we taking with us? Someone should stay home with Ben.”

Laura nodded again. “Boyd, Erica, come on. James, you’re holding down the house, alright? Ben, we’ll be back as soon as we can. Just please stay here and listen to James, alright?”

As Laura spoke, Stiles dove to the small chest he kept near the front door. It was full of crystals, mountain ash, a few forms of wolfsbane, and several other ingredients he could activate with his Spark. By the time Laura finished speaking, Stiles straightened up with his stash of things stowed safely in a backpack.

Ben’s form rocketed down the stairs and latched onto Stiles quickly before stepping back as Laura opened the door. Stiles kissed Ben’s messy hair. “We’ll bring them back soon,” he promised. Ben nodded as Erica and Boyd ran out the front door, and climbed into the backseat of Laura’s SUV. 

“They feel like they’re over near the warehouse district,” Stiles said while Laura drove. 

She nodded sharply. “They were food shopping, so it’s not far from there.”

“They’re still both alive, right?” Boyd asked. 

Laura nodded sharply again, looking at Boyd in the rearview mirror. “You’d feel if they weren’t. It’s… unmistakable, even if you’ve never felt it before.”

Boyd nodded grimly. “Thanks.”

“So this is definitely a trap then, right?” Erica asked after a moment of silence. 

“They could just be testing our response time,” Stiles pointed out. “Or maybe Kate is just a psychopath and wants to torture Derek more than she already has.”

“Fucker,” Erica muttered. 

They drove in silence for another few minutes before Laura skidded to a stop outside an empty building. “I think they’re in there… but they could be in one of the other buildings nearby. Come on.”

Stiles jumped out, “Come here,” he said, gesturing to both Erica and Boyd. He touched the center of their chests and bit his lip. “Alright, that should hold for an hour or so. Laura?” She stepped forward and he touched her chest briefly too. “That won’t stop a bullet close up, but you should be protected from most things.”

Laura nodded and turned and took off. Stiles had to run to keep up with her, but he was glad to see that she chose to go around the back of the building. She opened the exterior door cautiously. “They’re deeper inside,” she whispered as they all came through the door. She continued, following both the pack bonds and her nose and after a moment she came to a door and whispered. “They’re in here.” She cocked her head to the side. “Kate seems to be the only one here. Boyd, Erica, watch our backs.” They both nodded. 

Stiles nodded and prepared his strongest ward. He nodded a second or two later, grateful that his years of training had prepared him to do these types of protective magic so quickly. 

Laura shifted her weight and kicked the door open. The second she connected with the door, Stiles shifted the shield so it was blocking the doorway and smiled grimly as bullets ricocheted off it for several seconds. 

He stepped up to the shield and caught sight of Kate. She raised her gun again to point at him, so he reached out with his magic and tore it from her hands and threw it across the room. Next he levitated her and threw her against the wall, satisfied both with the thud she made when she hit it and the whoosh of air leaving her lungs. He held her up against the wall, putting just enough pressure on her that she wouldn’t be able to move any of her limbs to pull out any other weapons she probably had hidden on her body. 

“Stiles?” Laura prompted, and he waved a hand to drop the shield blocking the door. She rushed forward to Derek and Isaac, and Stiles finally let himself focus on them. They were both shirtless and chained to the frame of a wire fence, writhing in pain, even though both of them were clearly struggling to keep their eyes open so they could watch the scene unfold in front of them. Laura followed the wires to a device on the table and ripped the power cord out. 

Derek and Isaac both slumped limply, hanging from their arms, breathing heavily as the electricity stopped surging through them. 

Stiles rushed to rip the duct tape and wires off first Derek and then Isaac. “You’re alright?” He asked softly, coming back to Derek and cupping his face gently. Derek nodded faintly and tugged at the chains binding his wrists. Stiles reached up and realized he couldn’t do anything about the metal chains that were binding their arms above their heads, and Derek was apparently too weakened in the moment to attempt it either. “Laura?” Stiles turned to see Laura snapping handcuffs onto one of Kate’s wrists.

“What are you doing, arresting her?” Stiles asked. 

Laura squinted. “Yea. What did you think I was going to do to her?”

“We’re going to fucking kill her,” Stiles growled in response. “After everything she’s done? She doesn’t deserve to be arrested.”

“We can’t just kill her. We have to have order,” Laura explained. “In the human world and also in the supernatural community.” She sighed before walking over and helping Isaac and Derek snap their bindings. When she finished, she walked back to Kate and tugged at her arms gently until Stiles loosened the hold he had on her a little more. Laura expertly snapped the handcuffs onto Kate’s wrists. “Like with Ennis,” Laura continued, “we didn’t just kill him because we were mad at him - we had to have a council of Alphas agree. We can’t just kill Kate. Chris will handle disciplining her, if he doesn’t want me to officially arrest her. Once the hunters learn what she’s done, they’ll choose a fitting punishment.”

“Fitting?” Stiles demanded. “Fitting punishment? Laura, she needs to be dead. She… she tried to kill the pack! Again! She’s not like Chris, who has actual morals. She’s not even like Victoria, who I’m pretty sure would kill us all without hesitating if she thought we deserved it, but who follows the code. Kate is a sociopath though. Or maybe evil. But she’s not redeemable.”

“I’m not going to kill her Stiles,” Laura said seriously. “It’s not my place.”

“But you didn’t have a problem with Peter or Ennis,” Stiles protested.

“Stiles, they were werewolves,” Derek said tiredly as he continued to rub at his wrists. “It was Laura’s responsibility to take care of Peter, and she was chosen to execute Ennis because he had most directly harmed our pack. It’s our responsibility to police our own. And it’s the hunters’ responsibility to police their own.”

“But… but…” Stiles pulled at his hair before turning toward Kate, who had been silently watching their exchange, and stilling. “I’ll do it.”

Kate’s eyes widened and Stiles nearly gagged at the crazed smile she beamed at him. 

A lightning jolt suddenly ran up Stiles’ spine and he spun. He couldn’t see the line of crystals surrounding the house miles away, but one of them had just exploded. He could feel the remnants of his magic fizzling into the distance. 

“What was that?” Laura asked, clutching at her chest.

“You felt that?” Stiles asked. “One of the crystals exploded. The house isn’t protected anymore.”

There was a sudden explosion of smoke on the other side of the room that instantly engulfed the whole room. Stiles heard Derek shout, even though he couldn’t see him, “It’s Kate!”

There were shuffling sounds and then a slam. “She’s gone,” Laura growled. “Through a hidden door.”

“No!” Stiles shouted, waving at the smoke and trying to make it dissipate. “The smoke is magic, somehow,” Stiles said after a moment. “I can’t move it at all and I lost control of her the second it touched her.”

A hand reached out through the smoke and caught Stiles’ wrist, causing him to shout and wrench his arm away. “It’s me,” Derek said tiredly. 

“Shit, babe, sorry,” Stiles gasped out as he surged forward and wrapped his arms around Derek. “Are you really okay?”

Derek nodded, “Let’s get out of here though. Laura and Isaac are moving toward the exit.”

Stiles trailed behind Derek, grateful that the smoke didn’t impact his ability to smell. As soon as they were clear of the smoke, Laura stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Derek. He returned the gesture, burying his nose in her hair. Isaac was leaning heavily on Boyd and Erica, who both had their arms wrapped around him. 

“Everyone at home feels ok,” she said into Derek’s chest after a moment, before pulling back and looking up at home. “But I want to go straight home. Did Kate…”

“We’re fine,” Derek interrupted. “Let’s go home. We can talk once we know the whole pack is safe.”

Laura looked at Stiles as they all began to walk toward the car, who bit his lip before looking pointedly down. “Thank you, Stiles,” she said softly. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” Stiles said bitterly, still looking at the ground. “So far I haven’t actually succeeded at anything other than putting a booby trap around the house and arguing with you long enough to let Kate escape.”

“You prevented me from getting shot as I kicked in the door,” Laura pointed out as she held the door open for everyone. Erica stepped forward so she could scout the parking lot but froze suddenly, halfway to the car. 

“Erica?” Laura asked softly, but Erica didn’t respond. 

Stiles stepped out from under Derek’s arms and threw his senses out. He snarled when he felt another magic-user across the parking lot. She wasn’t a Spark, and he couldn’t quite tell what she was from this distance, but he was livid. 

“You!” Stiles shouted, pointing across the lot. 

She was the one who had sabotaged his crystal.

And now she was trying to control Erica. 

Stiles began stalking forward and reached out with his Spark and severed the flimsy connection the woman was trying to establish to hold Erica in place. Stiles waved his hand in the same moment and captured the woman with his Spark, freezing her limbs in much the same way she had tried to do with Erica.

“Thanks, Batman,” Erica gasped out as he neared her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“You alright?” He didn’t take his eyes off the woman across the lot. 

“Yea,” Erica said, rubbing at her neck. “It just felt weird.”

“Get everyone in the car, alright?”

Erica nodded and Stiles focused his attention on the black-haired woman who was still watching him with wide, panicked eyes. She had likely tried to break the magic that held her and realized she couldn’t.

“Who are you?” He asked, pitching his voice so it’d carry across the parking lot. 

“Kate asked me to protect her, in case one of you attacked her.” The woman scowled as she spoke. “It looks like she was right to bring me along.”

“Attacked her?” Stiles shouted. “Attacked her? You know she just kidnapped two of our pack members? And she was torturing them? And you’re helping her?”

The woman blinked several times. “She wouldn’t.”

Stiles laughed loudly. “Then you don’t know her. Or maybe you’ve just been blinded by her lies. I don’t know. And I don’t give a fuck.” Laura pulled her car up alongside Stiles and he nodded briefly at her. “Listen. You’re the one who fucked my crystal, right?” The woman didn’t respond, but Stiles could tell the answer was yes by the way she bit her lip. “If Kate was able to attack anyone else in my pack because you weakened my protective shields, I’m coming for you.”

He turned and climbed into the car, climbing over Isaac so he could settle between him and Derek in the backseat. Laura put the car in drive as soon as Stiles was seated and Erica looked over her shoulder at the woman. 

“I’m surprised she didn’t do anything to try to stop us,” she noted.

“She can’t,” Stiles answered tiredly. He weaved his fingers through both Isaac and Derek’s, letting small amounts of his Spark seep into them. “She’s frozen.”

“Still?” Laura asked with concern, looking at Stiles in the rearview mirror. Stiles sighed and let go of Isaac’s hand for a moment so he could wave vaguely behind them to release his control over the woman. He quickly latched onto Isaac again and rested his head on Derek’s shoulder. “She wasn’t a Spark?” 

Stiles shook his head. “A witch, I think. She’s good, but it’s not the same thing. Now that I know she’s here, I’ll be able to handle her easily. She must have been what I felt the other night. I’m such a moron for not thinking of how easy those crystals would be to overload. Fuck!”

“Stiles, none of us thought about it,” Laura said softly, and Derek nodded in agreement, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ hair. “And we’ve all been involved in the planning and everything. I think I know as much as you do about how the crystals protect us, in theory, at least. I know you can overload them if you aren’t careful. I just never thought about how that could be weaponized.”

Stiles nodded slowly before turning to look at Derek. “You usually complain about me healing you,” he noted softly, wiggling their joined hands.

“I usually don’t want you to waste your Spark,” Derek said softly. “But getting electrocuted sucks,” Derek explained as he stared down at their entwined hands.

“That it does,” Stiles confirmed with a sad smile. “At least you’re still conscious.” Stiles turned to Laura as he spoke. “Remember when I passed out in your arms after Kira accidentally tried frying me?” 

She snorted before glancing at him. “Yea, but that wasn’t until after you had handled the entire situation and driven yourself to safety. Don’t underestimate yourself, Stiles.”

They were silent the rest of the ride until they reached the house. Derek let out a deep sigh once it came into view: everything was perfectly normal. 

“I have a few spare crystals,” Stiles said as he got out of the car. “Laura, do you want to come with me to go replace it or should I take Boyd again?”

“Take Boyd, please,” Derek said as he reached out and wrapped an arm around Stiles’ shoulders and pulled him in for a quick kiss. “We need Laura right now, and you just need a set of eyes and ears, right?”

Stiles nodded. “We’ll be quick. It’s just the one that needs replacing. And I’ll keep us warded the entire time.”

“Make sure it isn’t a trap,” Laura advised as Boyd helped Isaac into the house.

“I just need a minute,” Stiles said as he ran into the house to get the replacement crystal. 

Ben rushed out and ran straight to Derek. He pulled one of Derek’s arms over his shoulder so he could lean on him while they walked up the stairs. “I’m alright, pup,” Derek said tiredly. Ben didn’t respond, just tightened his arms around Derek’s waist.

*

“Kate,” Gerard growled out. “That was rash.”

“But it worked out better than we could have hoped!” Kate’s wide grin looked somehow unnatural on her face. “The Spark really does use magic like it’s an extension of himself. He could have been amazing if he hadn’t been so tainted by the wolves already.”

Gerard crossed his arms. “Grabbing them out of the grocery store parking lot, though? That’s sloppy, even for you.” Kate opened her mouth to speak, but Gerard pointed at her, cutting her off. “No matter what results you got.”

“You grabbed them in the grocery store parking lot?” The woman in the corner asked. She had been quiet the whole time so far, watching the exchange between father and daughter. 

Gerard snorted. “Left a dropped bag of food on the ground and the trunk open and everything, like an amateur.” Kate rolled her eyes. “She’s lucky I was ready to play cleanup for her.”

“But when you grabbed them… if they had groceries that they dropped on the ground… what were they doing wrong?” The woman asked slowly. 

Kate and Gerard both turned to look at her with identical scornful expressions. Kate’s expression softened after a moment and she stepped forward. “Josie, sweetie, you know we’ve been studying this pack for a long time,” she explained. “Part of what is so insidious about them is that they are in control just enough to blend in with society sometimes. They food shop. They go to work. But during the full moon they’re completely dangerous.”

“That’s why we’re here two nights before the new moon?” 

“Exactly,” Kate crooned. “And that’s why we need you. Your magic is a key aspect in assuring our safety while we handle this dangerous pack.”

Josie chewed on her lower lip for a moment before looking up at Kate. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much good against this Spark. He overpowered me before… and he made it seem almost effortless.”

Kate rested her hands on Josie’s shoulders and smiled. “I know, and I’m so sorry you had to experience that, but I’m so grateful that you followed through on your part of the plan. Everything worked out exactly how it was supposed to.”

“But…”

“Sweetheart, I know my father thinks what I did was rash, but it was a calculated risk. I had to see how the Alpha and the Spark interact. They were the only two I didn’t have a handle on.”

“And… you do now?” Josie asked hesitantly.

Kate turned and stared out the window. “I think I have a very good handle on it now,” she said with a wry grin. 

*

Stiles and Laura lifted their heads at the same time to stare at the front door. 

“Did she…?” Stiles trailed off before jumping up. 

Laura rushed after Stiles and got to the front door first. “She’s alone,” she noted. “She must have walked here alone.” She opened the door and inhaled deeply. “Nobody else is around.” She glanced at Stiles. “How did she get in? You put up the wards to block those with ill intent, right?”

Stiles threw his hands up. “Of course. Those were the first ones I did. Maybe she used her magic to…” he trailed off and squinted at the woman, who had stopped walking a dozen feet from the porch steps. “You didn’t do anything to any of the crystals. They’re still intact.”

She nodded. “My name is Josie,” she said simply and took a deep breath and looked at Stiles as she continued talking. “I… I think I might need to apologize to you. I… I’ve been doing some research since you said Kate had been lying to me… and I think you’re right.” 

Stiles folded his arms over his chest and snorted. He heard a few more people step out onto the porch behind him and he touched each of them with his Spark to identify them. Isaac. Allison. Ben. Chris. 

Josie’s eyes widened and she gestured with her chin. “I have family in Tucson. Other folks with magic, so they know the community, you know? They said that a couple years ago the local Alpha was out of control. Biting kids. Killing people. The whole nine yards. Then they said a Spark from out of town rescued one of the kids and his Alpha held a conclave and then executed the rogue Alpha. Handled it all proper, they said. Now the Tucson pack is doing really well, and I’ve even heard that their Emissary is a descendent of Araceli Hernandez Garcia, who is hands-down the most famous and respected magic-user on the entire continent… who I’ve also heard is your mentor.” She gestured vaguely around. “I… I don’t see how that can all be true if what Kate and Gerard said is also true.”

“So what do you believe?” Chris asked. 

Josie shrugged with a small smile. “Well, none of you have attacked me, which Gerard assured me would happen instantly if I ever stepped on your territory, so that’s something.”

“We just want to live our lives in peace,” Laura said. “That’s all we want. Really.”

“We’ve never started shit with anyone,” Stiles said angrily. “People keep starting it with us, though.”

“Bet you always finish it, don’t you?” She chuckled softly as she looked up at Stiles. 

He glanced at Laura and Chris, who was standing behind her. “Between Laura, me, and Chris, yea, we can usually handle everything that comes at us.”

“You’re Chris Argent?” 

He laughed softly. “What did my sister and father tell you about me?”

“Well, based on their stories I was vaguely expecting someone who was older than Gerard or possibly raving mad. Or chained in a dungeon.”

“What the fuck has mom been telling them?” Allison asked, looking at her dad.

He shrugged and gestured at Allison. “This is my daughter, Allie. While I’m sure we both make questionable decisions occasionally, we’re also both members of this pack, and fully committed to both keeping everyone safe and maintaining order in our corner of the supernatural community.”

Josie nodded and took a deep breath before glancing over her shoulder. “I don’t know what else they have planned, since they’ve only been telling me exactly what they need me to do, like, the day of, but they’re definitely planning something.”

Laura nodded. “And you?”

“Well, besides the fact that I’m way out of my league and know when I should bow out of a fight… I’ve also found myself on the wrong side of the fight because I trusted the wrong people.” She sighed and kicked at the grass. “I’ve known folks who were wolves on and off my whole life. Most of ‘em were good folks. There were a couple bad eggs. But mostly, they’ve been normal people.” She shook her head. “When Kate told me that there was a semi-feral pack who had corrupted a Spark, I felt like I was responsible to help them deal with the problem. But… I can clearly see that none of that was true.”

Stiles glanced at Laura, who glanced at Derek before nodding back at Stiles. “You can stay here,” Laura said. “We’ll keep you safe until Gerard and Kate are handled, and then you can do whatever you want.”

“What if I want to stay in Beacon Hills?”

Laura raised her eyebrows. 

“I finished grad school last year,” Josie said with a shrug. “I was finishing a six-month road-trip around the country when Kate recruited me. I’d… I think I’d like to live in a place that has an established supernatural community, at least for a while.”

“If you want to stay in Beacon Hills, you’re certainly welcome to,” Laura said with a grin. “We’ll obviously introduce you to the rest of the pack, as well as the local druid.”

“You’ve got a druid too?”

“You’ve got no idea,” Chris laughed as he descended the steps and held his hand out to Josie. “I’ve never seen a town with more supernatural folks who actually all get along so well.”

She shook his hand and grinned first at Chris and then up at Laura. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity.”

“Hey, Laura,” Stiles said, turning to grin at her, “remember when Araceli told you to control our narrative?”

Laura laughed, “What do you think I’ve been doing while you’ve been at school? Just sitting on my butt all day long? I’ve been networking like crazy with every single member of the supernatural community I could get in touch with.”

Josie approached the steps and Chris trailed behind her, flanking her subtly as she approached Laura. “Thank you for offering me protection. Do you… do you want to lock me up or something in the meantime so I can’t betray you?” She glanced between Laura and Stiles, before looking at the rest of the pack who had gathered in the doorway. “I promise I mean you no harm, but I understand if you don’t trust me yet.”

Stiles reached out slowly and touched his fingertips to her forehead. “Do you swear not to do anything to harm this pack?”

“I swear,” she responded. 

Stiles nodded and dropped his hand slightly and pressed his fingertips into the center of her chest. He exhaled and pushed a small bit of his Spark into her before pulling his hand back.

“What did you do?” She whispered, staring down at the spot of her chest where he’d touched her. 

“I created a bond between the two of us,” he replied tiredly. “I’ll take it back, once this is all done, if you’d like. But I’ll be able to sense you like I can the rest of the pack. I’ll know if you’re in trouble, I’ll be able to find you, the whole thing.”

“You can do that?” She asked, her eyes widening. 

Stiles nodded and turned back to Laura, “What?”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m proud of you, that’s all. Come on, let’s go inside and relax while we can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kate does canon-type shit because she's the worst. 
> 
> She hurt Derek and Isaac and for that... Stiles listened to Laura's reasoning in the moment but he has definitely not forgiven Kate one ounce.


	6. Chapter 6

“Chris… well, we don’t need to explain to you why this is worrisome. We’ve heard rumors about Gerard and Kate before… but… but since you’re the one reporting them this time…”

Stiles walked past Laura’s office to the kitchen so he could grab a water bottle and snorted. He was glad the council of hunters that Laura, Derek, and Chris were zooming with was taking the situation seriously, but how much damage could have been avoided if they’d taken this seriously years ago?

“Alpha Hale, we appreciate your trust in us,” one of the hunters said. “We know that… in the heat of the moment… things happen. Thank you for conferring with us before moving forward with it.”

Another voice picked up, although the woman sounded uncomfortable as she spoke. “Your… father and sister have been investigated several times before. At your request, we followed up with several of the people who investigated them, and you were right… there was a trend amongst most of them.”

“Dead?” Chris guessed.

“Or blackmailed,” the woman added. “A couple people admitted the truth… and a couple admitted they were being blackmailed, but wouldn’t say why because they were too afraid.”

Stiles stifled a laugh. He had greeted the hunters, but his role as Emissary was more for dealing with the supernatural community. Chris was a much more valuable liaison when dealing with the other hunters, and Stiles was grateful because it gave him the opportunity to go back out to work more magic on his crystals. 

He walked into the room and blew a silent kiss to Derek as he waved at Laura. 

“Excuse me a moment,” Derek said softly as he quickly rose and drew Stiles out of the room. “You’re taking Isaac with you?” Stiles nodded and Derek cupped his jawline. “You look tired, babe.”

Stiles chuckled softly. “I am, but when we get back I’ll nap. I promise.”

“You won’t nap first?” Derek asked. “You’ve been going out every few hours for the past two days. You haven’t had a good night’s sleep since we got back.”

Stiles reached up to cup both sides of Derek’s face. “I can’t sleep knowing that the pack isn’t safe enough. I spent the first day just coming up with a new plan, so I’ve only been laying down the new protective spells for the last twenty-four hours. I just need to do a few more rounds and then I’ll feel more confident.”

“Are you at least letting your Spark fill up in between each time you go out?”

“That’s why I’m waiting six hours,” Stiles explained.

Derek squinted. “That wasn’t a yes.”

Stiles sighed. “I’m waiting until it’s full enough, and then I’m only spending some of it. I’m not even going below a half tank or anything like that. Just… I need to know that you and Ben and the rest of the pack are safe, alright?”

“And then you’ll sleep for, like, a day?” Derek asked, a note of pleading in his voice.

“Something like that,” Stiles agreed, leaning in for a kiss. 

Isaac poked his head into the hallway. “Stiles, you gonna be ready soon?”

Stiles nodded and Derek leaned in for another kiss. “Be careful.”

“I always am,” Stiles replied with a grin. Derek watched him walk down the hallway for a minute before turning to go back into the Zoom call. 

Stiles and Isaac both kissed the top of Ben’s head as they walked past. “Love the braids, pup,” Stiles said. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

“An hour?” Ben asked, twisting so he could see them both over the couch.

“An hour and a half, tops,” Stiles answered. “And then we’ll play Mario Kart? Derek should be done by then.”

Ben grinned widely. “Perfect.”

“Alright then, let’s go,” Isaac said with a clap. Stiles slung his backpack over one shoulder as he followed Isaac out the door. 

Stiles walked silently out to the line of buried crystals. They couldn’t see the house anymore, but he had walked this route so many times that he basically knew every tree around them. 

“Thanks for coming with me, by the way,” Stiles said as he settled down and uncovered the crystal he wanted to work with. He used his Spark to clear away all of the remnants of magic that were still clinging to it. Then he pulled six smaller crystals out of his bag and lined them up around the larger crystal. He had found that he could essentially calibrate the crystals to one another, and the largest crystal could hold the body of the magic with the smaller crystals just acting as extensions.

He’d had almost a dozen connected crystals that made up the inner circle that surrounded the house, but once one of them had been damaged it had rendered them all useless. 

Now, he was going to have almost a dozen different crystals that each made up their own individual circles. They could overlap and intertwine with each other, but they were all completely independent of one another. Now, if any of the crystals were destroyed, it would only affect one individual chain of magic. The rest would still be intact. The pack house would still be protected. 

“This shouldn’t take me too long to work on,” Stiles said, “and then we’re going to walk a lap around the border to place these other--”

“Dude, you know I love you. But right now I would absolutely love it if you’d shut up so I can pay attention to everything around us.” Isaac glared, even though he looked guilty.

Stiles snapped his mouth shut so fast his teeth hurt. 

Of course Isaac was anxious. He had been captured by Kate when he was out grocery shopping with Derek. He had thought he was safe. And now he was out traipsing through the woods with Stiles. His job was to be the eyes and ears so nobody could sneak up on them. And if Stiles was chatting the whole time, then he wouldn't be able to do his job. 

Stiles didn’t speak again as they walked around. He carefully planted each of his crystals and then hid them again.

Over the next hour, Stiles continued to silently work. There were a few times when Isaac stepped closer and ran his hand along Stiles’ arm or back as his way of proving that he wasn’t mad, but otherwise, he kept his focus on the woods around them.

“Alright,” Stiles said with a sigh. “I’ve finished with the last part of this chain.”

“The chain?” Isaac asked, his voice cracking slightly from not being used for a few hours.

Stiles shook his bag gently so Isaac could hear the crystals tinkle softly. “Instead of having one big strong chain, I’m making a dozen separate but overlapping chains.”

“And they’ll be stronger because each one is independent of the others?” Isaac guessed. 

Stiles nodded. “I’m reusing one of the bigger crystals for the anchor for each new chain. They’re all entirely separate, so if one is destroyed, all of the other chains will still be intact.”

“So they’re like concentric rings. With safety nets built in,” Isaac finished. “Smart.”

“Yea,” Stiles chuckled darkly. “If only I had thought of it in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this particular mess right now.” 

He stared angrily out into the woods for a moment before Isaac stepped close beside him and wrapped an arm over his shoulders. “Stiles, none of us blame you. We know you’re doing your best.”

Stiles barked out an angry laugh. “I know. That’s the kick in the pants though. Because my best wasn’t good enough.” He sighed. “But Stilinskis and Hales don’t give up. So that’s why I came up with this plan. I talked with Araceli, and she said that this should be stronger than the other way once I have enough layers built up.”

“How many layers do you have now?” 

“Not enough,” Stiles bitterly. “And that’s part of the problem. I don’t have enough of the big crystals to anchor the chains. I have more spread through Beacon Hills, but all of the rest of them are outside of the wards.”

“But…”

“I know,” Stiles finished before sighing. Then he pointed out in front of him. “There’s one less than thirty feet that way. I can levitate it and bring it back here, but it’s going to take some time, and it will be super visible if anyone comes by.”

Isaac’s shoulders tightened, but he breathed deeply for several seconds. “Nobody’s around.”

Stiles laced his fingers through Isaac’s and squeezed. “Alright. Let me know if anyone even comes close.”

Isaac swallowed and nodded.

Stiles heard the crack of the gun at the same instant he felt the bullet punch into his shoulder. He threw up a shield instinctively with his good hand to block the spray of bullets that continued coming from the semi-automatic rifle, even though he couldn’t see anybody. 

Kate wavered slightly as she appeared out of thin air, grinning widely as she continued walking toward them, even though her bullets had stopped hitting them. Stiles placed his hand over the wound on his shoulder, gasping at the pain while he focused his Spark on the area to try to stop the bleeding.

“Fuck,” Isaac gasped out as he dropped to his knees. “Where the fuck did she come from?”

“Isaac?” Stiles asked as he poured more of his Spark into the shield protecting them. “We’re good. We’re safe. I’ve got a shield up, and they can’t come to us here inside the wards. Is it wolfsbane?”

“It’s not wolfsbane,” Isaac grunted out. “But something’s wrong…” 

Stiles followed his line of sight and felt his stomach drop. Gerard was walking up on their other side pointing a gun at them as well. He reached into his pocket and grinned widely as he pulled something out. 

“Is that a fucking grenade?” Stiles asked. “Where the hell did they come from?”

“I still can’t smell them,” Isaac groaned.

Gerard raised his eyebrows as he pulled the pin out of the grenade and tossed it at Stiles, who winced and braced himself. His shield deflected the worst of the explosion, but he felt it flicker and disappear as he gasped and staggered to the side after Isaac toppled over. His ears were ringing and the residual smoke was making it hard for him to breathe.

“Shit,” Stiles groaned as he pulled his bloody hand away from his shoulder. All he needed was another shield and then they’d be safe again. All he needed to do was focus for one fucking second. 

One. 

Fucking. 

Second. 

Stiles heard the sharp crack of the gun at almost the same instant he felt something pinch into his neck. He slapped at his neck, but his bloody hand seemed to be moving in slow motion as he watched a tranquilizer dart land in Isaac’s neck. Stiles dropped to his knees next to Isaac as three more darts landed in his friend’s chest. 

Stiles tried to grab for Isaac as he fell, but he felt like his limbs were made out of rubber bands. 

“Damn,” he groaned out as the horizon skewed sideways and the ground rushed up to hit him. He didn’t realize he was lying on his back until he felt something cinch around his leg. He watched the trees move above him and he felt himself pass through his wards as he was dragged by his leg until Kate stepped over him. 

“Still awake?” She asked with her signature creepy wide grin. 

Stiles focused on Isaac and cast his strongest ward around him, grateful that he could focus his Spark that much at least. The world might be tilting and Kate swam in and out of focus above him, but he had practiced putting these wards around his pack so many times that he was confident that it would hold up until the minute he lost consciousness. 

Which… was also a struggle at the moment. But if his Spark could help him diffuse a kitsune’s lightning, it should be able to help him remain awake with a tranq dart in him, right? He adjusted his hand on his shoulder again and continued pouring more of his Spark into the bullet wound. His hand was soaked from the blood, but he thought it felt like it had slowed down at least. 

Stiles focused on the pack bonds and tugged on all of them, both as a warning and as a cry for help. 

He wiggled the fingers of his free hand. He was glad that everything seemed to be working, even though he’d been shot in his shoulder. It hurt to move it, but he inched across the ground, trying to reach for Isaac. He’d be able to pass through his ward with no problem, and if he could just touch Isaac, he’d be able to help speed up his healing as well. He was only a few feet away, on the other side of the wards, but if he could just make it… 

He cried out as Kate kicked his wrist and he heard bones snap. He clutched his arm to his chest as his eyes rolled back into his head for a minute. He debated spending some of his Spark to heal his wrist, but didn’t want to divert any more from his shoulder than he needed. He should also put a ward around himself, or try to expand Isaac’s so it covered both of them, but even as he thought it, his vision went dark for a moment and he had to blink several times to get his eyes to focus on the trees above him. 

He wished he knew what his Spark was doing to combat the effects of the tranquilizer so that he could focus that too… but just like when he was electrocuted by Kira, it seemed that his Spark just dealt with it unconsciously. 

“Tsk, tsk, little Spark,” Kate sing-songed. “None of that now.” 

Stiles groaned and tried to focus on her while she walked around him. 

“I’m surprised you’re still awake, honestly.”

“Fuck you,” Stiles spat, his vision swimming. He reached out to the bonds again. Laura. Derek. Ben. 

She kicked him in the ribs and his eyes fell shut as he felt the crunch of bone again. He forced them back open so he could glare at her. Stiles dropped the healing magic he was pouring into his shoulder and created one of his body-shields. This was the skin-tight shield he used when he sparred with the wolves, and would keep him safe without alerting Kate that he even had it up. He wanted to focus his magic on healing himself, but if he kept getting new wounds, he knew it would be a losing battle. 

“Where’s your magic?” She crooned. “I thought the Big Bad Spark would be trying to whoop my butt.” She walked around him again. “Or are you focusing all that magic on staying awake and healing those bullets? Hmmm…”

She swung her leg over and knelt so she was straddling his waist. She moved his hand aside easily and poked at his shoulder. “Two here in your shoulder. And they’re still bleeding, so you haven’t taken care of that entirely.” She grabbed onto his jawline and brought her face close. “You know, you really are quite pretty. I can see why Derek likes you.”

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut as he heard two more gunshots. 

“Huh,” Gerard’s gravely voice comes from above and behind him. “He’s warding the other boy.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “You’re protecting him, but not yourself?”

“He has to,” Gerard growled out. “If he can’t protect them, they’d turn on him in a minute.”

“That’s not true,” Stiles gasped out as Kate shifted on top of him, her knee pressing against his broken ribs. She couldn’t do anything else to harm him, but the shield had just enough give for him to feel the pressure against his ribs. “That’s not true, and you know it. They aren’t monsters… like you are.”

Kate pulled a knife out and tapped it against Stiles’ cheek. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that matter. Now… we’ve been having trouble getting close to the Hale house. At first we couldn’t figure it out, but then we realized that it’s your magic keeping us out. Josie assured us that she took care of the crystals you used to protect everything, but it seems like you repaired them quicker than she thought was possible. And then to top it all off, she went and disappeared. So that means you either kidnapped her, killed her, or ran her out of town.”

“We didn’t want to kill you, Stiles,” Gerard said.

“But honestly,” Kate continued, running the knife-point along Stiles’ cheek softly, “we don’t see any other feasible way forward at this point, unless you renounce the pack and drop all of the protective wards you have around them.”

Isaac groaned nearby and Stiles heard him move slightly. Hopefully he’d be regaining consciousness soon. 

Stiles pulled on the bonds one more time. He could feel Derek and Laura coming, but he wasn’t sure how much more time he had before he passed out or drained his Spark, and he was pretty sure he’d be dead at that point. 

“We’ll protect you,” Gerard offered. “You and your father. We’ll make sure the wolves don’t harm either of you, and once they’re all gone, you can go on with your life as normal.”

Stiles craned his neck so he could glare at Gerard. They really did see the pack as some kind of infestation that needed to be taken care of. And they thought he would just… happily return to life as normal after his entire pack was killed, as if that was even possible.

“We’re gonna fucking kill you, you know that, right?” Stiles ground out, pushing through a gasp as Kate leaned forward, pressing on his ribs again as the knife came to rest below his chin.

She grinned and opened her mouth to respond, but Stiles thrust his good arm at her chest and used his Spark to hurl her straight upwards at the same time he threw a full shield up around himself. Gerard cursed and shot once at Stiles, but apparently gave up when he realized the bullet wasn’t going to penetrate the shield. 

Kate crashed to the ground near Stiles as he laboriously stood up and his grin turned feral at the groan she let out. 

Stiles felt Derek growing closer, with Laura not much further behind him. He held a hand out and lifted Kate off the ground before throwing her roughly against a nearby tree. 

“You think I’d just betray my pack? Turn my back on them? Move on with my life?” Stiles growled at Gerard. His eyes flicked between Stiles and Kate’s body where it was hanging suspended against the tree still. 

“You think this is something I’d just walk away from? This is my life!”

Gerard snarled as he reached into his vest and Stiles threw his hand toward him and put up a ward around the hunter, trapping him in place. 

Derek raced into the clearing and stopped a few feet away from Stiles. He looked around with panicked eyes. “You’re alright?”

Stiles snorted. “Alright might be a stretch. But I’m in control. Will you check on Isaac? He hasn’t moved since Kate shot us.”

“Isaac?” Derek asked as he moved to kneel next to Isaac. 

“That’s right, bitch,” Kate said with a mocking grin. “Do what you’re told.”

Stiles used his Spark to lift Kate away from the tree and then slammed her back into it again.

“Please tell me that hunting council said I can kill her,” Stiles said to Derek as he slammed Kate into the tree several more times as he spoke, “because honestly, fuck the politics, if she opens her mouth again…”

Derek turned sharply to look at Gerard and Stiles realized he was pointing his semi-automatic rifle at them. The bullets all bounced off the ward and Stiles wasn’t sure, but it looked like most of them landed in his chest. The man collapsed after a few seconds, but Stiles made sure to keep the ward up around him. He wouldn’t trust the man behind him, even with several bullets in his chest. Derek turned to stare at Stiles with wide eyes and he shrugged with his good shoulder.

Stiles waited a few seconds to see if Gerard would move, but after nothing happened, he sighed and he turned to take a step toward Derek and Isaac. His leg gave out and he stumbled and gasped as he flailed his arms and dropped to one knee. 

Kate fell to the ground as Stiles stumbled and lost his hold on her. Stiles watched in horror as she pulled a knife from behind her back and he threw up his hand at the same time it left her hand. He knocked it aside just a few feet before it could hit Derek, who rushed past the ward toward Kate and lifted her up by the neck with a snarl. 

Chris’ truck skidded to a stop not far from them and he jumped out instantly, calling, “Derek, wait!” Derek shook Kate, who was grasping at his hands and kicking her feet ineffectually. Chris pulled out his gun as he approached Derek, “Let me. You don’t need to do this.”

Derek finally looked at Chris. “You’ll handle her?”

Chris nodded resolutely. 

Derek squeezed her throat for a brief second before dropping her. She crumpled to the ground at their feet as she gasped for air.

“Chris, brother--” she started, staring up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes as she touched her fingers to the blood dripping from the claw marks along the sides of her neck. “Look what that beast did to me!”

Chris shook his head as he brought his gun up and shot her twice between the eyes. 

Stiles closed his eyes as he shifted his weight so he was fully kneeling. He swayed before sitting back on his heels. He lifted his good hand and placed it back over the gunshot wound, pouring more of his Spark into it again.

He felt as Derek knelt next to him a second later, and he turned his face into Derek’s hand, black lines streaking up his arm as soon as he touched Stiles’ skin. Stiles winced as he heard two more gunshots, and glanced at Chris, who was standing over his father’s body. He sighed before putting his gun away and turning toward the group. “Stiles?” He called softly. “Isaac?”

“I’m fine,” Stiles said softly as he turned his attention back toward Derek. “Or… I will be.” He finally met Derek’s eyes which were still wide with panic. “I’ll be fine. I promise. You made it in time, my love.” Stiles swallowed and shifted so he could look at where Chris was kneeling across from Laura as they both talked softly with Isaac. “How’s the rest of the pack?”

Derek let out a small sob before leaning his forehead in to press against Stiles’. “They’re all fine,” he said softly. “Isaac’s alright too, or, he will be. They must have planned this because they had a team of hunters hit the wards on the south side of the house at the same time they attacked you. Chris and Allison went to take care of them with Josie, but I started running the second I felt you get hurt.” Derek’s eyes roamed across the blood staining his shirt. “I… I didn’t think she’d be able to hurt you this much.”

Stiles coughed out a bitter laugh, “Neither did I. They somehow covered their scent and sounds, so Isaac didn’t sense them until after they shot us both, first with bullets and then with tranq darts.” Stiles raised his voice slightly, “Isaac? Buddy? How’re you doing?”

Isaac groaned loudly in response. “She shot me in the fucking spine,” he said finally. “It’s healing though. I can move my legs a bit now, although waking up unable to move was really fucking scary for a minute there.”

“Shit,” Stiles said before looking back at Derek, “help me up. Us both being close will help him heal faster, right?” Derek hesitated and bit his lip before nodding and reaching to put his arm under Stiles’ good shoulder, “Oh, try to avoid my ribs on that side,” Stiles said as an afterthought. “They’re broken.”

Derek gawked at him, anguish evident in his eyes, but he finally nodded again and gingerly helped Stiles to his feet. The two of them walked slowly to Isaac, where Derek helped Stiles settle down cross-legged near Isaac’s head. Derek settled next to him and placed one hand on Isaac’s shoulder and the other one on Stiles’ back, where he was constantly leeching pain. Laura reached one hand over to rest on Stiles’ knee. 

“You’re really ok?” She asked softly. 

“Well, besides the broken ribs and broken wrist, and gunshot wounds, yea,” Stiles chuckled weakly. “And the tranquilizer still in my system. I’m still not seeing straight. Otherwise, I’m good.”

Chris’ head shot up and he stared at Stiles. “Kate and my father did all of that?”

Stiles nodded. “Also there was a grenade. Apparently my shields protect against grenades, which is good to know, I suppose. But the shock of the explosion disoriented me so much that I lost hold of the shield and couldn’t put a new one up quickly enough.” He sighed before continuing, “We’re going to have to call Deaton and Melissa to take care of me at the clinic. I don’t want to think up an excuse for why I was shot and lost a whole lot of blood, but I’m still on my feet.” Chris continued to stare blankly at him. Stiles wiggled the bloody fingers from his unbroken wrist, grateful for a moment that he had one arm that was uninjured, and said, “Magic, remember? I’m healing myself. It’s just… a lot. And I don’t know that I have enough juice right now to handle it all.”

“How’d you go through your Spark so quickly?” Laura asked. 

“Well,” Stiles said, tilting his head to the side a bit, “Apparently it takes a lot of magic to keep myself lucid and awake with a tranq dart in my neck while also healing multiple wounds and maintaining a shield around Isaac and myself.” He sighed, “Also, I wasn’t at a full-tank because of all of the magic I’ve been pouring into the crystals to make sure the pack is safe.”

“Fuck, Stiles,” Laura breathed out. “If we had known--”

“I know, I know,” Stiles interrupted, smiling weakly at Laura, “in hindsight, I definitely could have done things differently. But also, they didn’t attack until after I’d been doing magic for a solid hour already. Do either of you know how they covered their scent and sounds? They were basically invisible and Isaac was being careful and everything, and he couldn’t sense them.”

Chris rose and moved to study his father and sister’s bodies. He came back a moment later with two small green pendants. “These,” he said, holding them up to show the group. “They’re infused with the blood of a Ciguapa… a… shapeshifter native to DR that has outstanding camouflaging abilities,” Chris explained, frowning. “The pendants have also been banned for at least 50 years.” He looked at Laura, “I’m going to call Allison and check on the pack.” 

“Thank you,” she said softly. 

After a moment of silence Isaac looked up at the trio sitting around him and smiled faintly, “Hey, look at us. The original four.”

Laura smiled tiredly, “You’re right.” She squeezed Isaac’s shoulder. “My brother, my emissary, and my first beta.”

Chris came back to the group as he tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Isaac, how are you feeling? I spoke to Deaton and Melissa and they’re both going to meet us at the house so they can check Stiles out.”

Isaac pulled his legs up so his feet were flat on the ground, “Well, I can move them both, so that’s something. Laura, if you help me up we can see how the rest of me is.”

Laura and Isaac slowly stood up, and even though he leaned on her shoulders, he was able to walk to Chris’ car. 

Stiles looked up at Derek, who was looking anxiously down at him. “If you lift under my armpits, I don’t think it’ll damage anything,” he offered. Derek nodded quickly and helped him up. “And hey, I can walk just fine. There’s nothing wrong with the bottom two thirds of my body!”

Derek glared and pursed his lips but didn’t say anything as he helped Stiles gingerly climb into the car. 

*

Josie stared in horror at the group as they carefully came into the house. Allison and Boyd rushed over to help Derek, who had lifted Stiles after he almost passed out while getting out of the car. Allison threw a blanket over the couch and Boyd helped Derek smoothly lay Stiles out. 

“That’s a lot of blood,” Ben squeaked from the entranceway as Laura helped Isaac limp in. Allison immediately moved toward them, grabbing another throw blanket as she went. Laura lowered Isaac onto the blanket Allison quickly threw out onto the other part of the couch and kneeled down next to him. 

“We’re okay, pup. I promise,” Isaac said weakly, reaching for Ben. “I’m mostly healed already, and Stiles will be fine soon.”

“But…” Ben stepped in close and hugged Isaac, disregarding the blood. “What happened?”

Chris followed last and closed the door. He held up the pendants to Josie angrily. “Did you know about these?”

She squinted in confusion as she studied them. “No. What are they?”

He shook them angrily. “Illegal, to start with. Immoral, secondly. And they’re how they got the drop on Isaac. They’re pendants that make the wearer essentially invisible to all senses - no sight, no sounds, no scents. Allows them to travel without being sensed until they’re right up close.” He glanced at his daughter. “I took care of them both.”

She gasped softly and rose, squeezing Isaac’s hand once before going to her father and hugging him tightly. “I’m sorry you had to do it, but thank you.”

He squeezed her back, pressing a kiss into her hair. “That’s what packs do,” he said softly, holding Allison but making eye contact with Laura across the room. “They take care of each other.” They stood there for a moment until the front door opened and Deaton rushed in. 

“How is my--” he stopped and stared at Josie for a moment. “Oh. You’re the witch. Huh.” Then he turned to face the pack and his eyes focused on Stiles, who gave a slight wave from the couch. “Did you drain yourself again while protecting the pack?”

“Not drained,” Stiles said faintly, even though he was smiling. “Got shot though. That’s new.”

“Fuck, Stiles,” Deaton said as he walked over and sat on the coffee table across from him. “Tell me.”

As Stiles spoke softly, Deaton cut his shirt off and began examining him. Ben got up and left the room, coming back a few moments later with new shirts for both Stiles and Isaac, as well as a package of baby wipes, water bottles, and protein bars. Isaac gratefully took the water and protein bars and swallowed them almost without chewing. 

A few minutes later, Melissa McCall rushed in the door. “How bad is it?”

“Did you bring the blood?” Deaton asked calmly. “He should survive without a transfusion, but--”

“It’s right here,” she said, opening her bag and pulling out a bag of blood and another of IV fluid. She glanced up at who was nearest and not covered in blood. “Erica, would you go grab the IV pole from my trunk?”

Erica nodded and silently went outside. 

“You’re doing a good job of healing these,” Deaton commented eventually. “Luckily, both bullets went straight through. I want to bring you into the clinic later to do an x-ray, but we can wait until after we get the fluids in you to make sure you’re stabilized.”

Stiles lifted up his arm toward Melissa while she prepped the IV needle and he smiled faintly. “Thanks… Mom.”

Melissa’s eyes widened and she glanced at Deaton and then Derek, who was positioned near Stiles’ head. 

“I’m draining a lot of pain,” Derek explained softly. “It can make him a little… loopy. Plus he was shot with a tranq dart, so that’s probably still in his system too.”

“And besides the two gunshot wounds, he claims that his ribs and wrist are both broken,” Deaton added quietly. 

Melissa’s eyes went even wider, but she nodded before carefully pressing in the needle and setting up the IV. 

An hour later, Stiles was sitting up on the couch and eating carefully. Most of the pack was sitting on whatever surface they could, with most people touching either Stiles or Isaac. Ben was firmly tucked into Stiles’ good side and refused to move from his position. Everyone was relieved that they were both alright, and that Kate and Gerard were dead. 

Chris, Boyd, and James walked in the front door and made their way straight back to the kitchen. “I took care of them both,” Chris said as he walked. “Both buried, separate from their heads, in very nice holes that Boyd and James dug.”

“Thanks, guys,” Laura said gratefully. 

Josie burst out, “Ya’ll are the strangest group of people I have ever met before.”

Allison chuckled from her spot on the couch where she was gently stroking Isaac’s hair. “Wait until the banshee and the kitsune come back.”

Josie gaped at her and most of the pack laughed. 

Deaton returned from the kitchen and handed Stiles a milky white beverage. 

“I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?”

“Probably. Drink it all,” Deaton instructed. Stiles sighed and complied. “You’ll likely have scars from the bullets, unless you want to spend a lot of magic over the next few weeks to heal them entirely.”

Stiles shook his head. “I don’t mind the scars.”

“It’s a good thing they’re on the opposite arm from your lightning scar,” Isaac pointed out. “Otherwise they’d clash.”

Stiles laughed loudly. “Yes, you’re right. That would be a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't be mad at me... or at least, don't be any angrier than Stiles is at himself. 
> 
> They used magic against him! And a grenade! But even with that, they didn't really stand a chance...


	7. Chapter 7

“Chris, I’m really sorry,” Laura repeated as she leaned against the kitchen counter and watched the former hunter stare at his phone. 

He rubbed at his forehead and groaned. “She isn’t at the house. Allison and I have checked everywhere and she isn’t answering her phone or responding to any messages.”

“I could try scrying for her,” Stiles suggested from where he sat at the opposite end of the table from Chris as he scratched idly at the soft brace on his wrist. “I haven’t done it too many times, but Deaton taught me how to do it.”

“I’m actually pretty good at scrying,” Josie said quietly from the doorway. “I could do it.” 

Chris looked up with a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Would you? Either of you? Or both? I don’t really know how it works, but…” He dropped his eyes again. “She would hate that. She’d see it as an invasion of her privacy.”

Laura sighed softly as she moved forward to sit across from Chris. “She owes us the truth, Chris. You said so yourself. And she needs to face the consequences of her actions. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Isaac was attacked both times.”

“They could have come after me any time I walked the perimeter,” Stiles pointed out. “That was my first time doing it with Isaac, and maybe it was the first time they had everything in position, but maybe it wasn’t.”

“Alright,” Chris said. “Do it.”

Stiles looked up at Josie and his face twitched in embarrassment for a moment. “You haven’t done any magic in the past few days, have you?”

“No,” she answered hesitantly. “Why?”

“Come here,” he said with a small wave. When she was close enough he reached out and touched the center of her chest, the gesture mirroring what he did when they first welcomed her into the house. “The bond I made kind of bound our magic together. I released it now.”

“What?” She asked with a small gasp.

“Stiles!” Laura reprimanded.

“What? I didn’t trust her!” Stiles protested. “She could still use it, but it would just… feel a little weaker… and I would’ve felt it… theoretically. I’ve never actually done this before.”

“You didn’t take it away you just… tapped into it?” Josie asked. Stiles nodded and she exhaled slowly before nodding. “That was smart. I could’ve been a plant or something. I wouldn’t have trusted me completely either.”

“You’re not mad?” Chris asked.

Josie shook her head. “I haven’t done any magic in the last few days because I didn’t want any of you to be upset. I didn’t want to lose your trust already, since I felt like I had barely earned it in the first place. I’ve… never spent much time with a Spark before, but I’ve always heard that their magic is far and away different from ours, not just more powerful, but… different.”

“When you said it was like a pack bond, I thought you meant you were just connected to each other, not that you were controlling her,” Laura said with a frown. 

“I wasn’t controlling her,” Stiles protested. “I was keeping tabs on her.”

“Yea, but--”

Stiles interrupted Laura by placing a hand on her forearm where it was crossed over her chest. “Laura, you keep telling me that I have to stay in my lane, right? Werewolves handle werewolf business, hunters handle hunter business, that’s the idea, right?” Laura nodded slowly. “This? This is my business.” Stiles pointed at Josie, who gave a small grin and shrug. “She’s magic. She’s my lane. And I was worried that she might pose a danger to the pack, and specifically a magical threat, so both as a Spark and as the pack’s Emissary, this is exactly my lane.”

“Laura, when I came here, I knew that I was turning myself over to your pack. I placed my trust in you, and part of why I did that was because of Stiles.” Josie came to stand beside Laura and Stiles as she spoke. “The only reason I was able to get the drop on him at all was because my magic is just different enough that I was able to surprise him, but once he knew I was here, and once I felt his magic, I knew that I didn’t stand a chance if I tried to fight him. Plus after talking to my family, and talking to you all, I knew I didn’t want to fight any of you anymore anyway.” She grinned at Laura. “Do you have a physical map of the area? Let me impress all of you with my scrying ability.”

Stiles laughed. “Follow me.”

“You have actual paper maps in the house?” Josie asked as she followed Stiles. 

“Yea, of course,” Stiles responded. “I’m not great at scrying, but I’m prepared for it. I have a whole cabinet in Laura’s office devoted to things I might not ever need but still keep on hand just in case.” Stiles laughed as he walked into the office and opened the cabinet. “Honestly I’ve got a bunch of stuff in here that you could probably make more use of than I do.” Stiles glanced at Laura over his shoulder and smiled faintly. “Laura, you know I love you, and the whole pack. Please, let me do my job and take care of the pack.”

*

Stiles smirked up at the security camera. It wouldn’t be able to see through his invisibility shield, even though it looked like a top-of-the-line model. 

He sauntered up to the two guards standing near the door. Chris had told him that they’d be armed with both guns and tasers, and he reached out gently with his Spark and disabled both of them just to be on the safe side. 

Stiles stepped in close beside both men and whispered, “Boo.”

He enjoyed watching them both flinch before he grasped them with his Spark, freezing them in place. Their eyes widened dramatically as they realized they couldn’t move. 

“Let’s go for a walk, yea?” Stiles said as he levitated them and caused them to float an inch or so off the ground behind him while he entered the building. 

Stiles walked around the empty office building and gathered each of the hunters. They were usually in pairs, although Stiles did bump into one small group who were eating in a break room. By the time he was ready to enter the office Victoria was in, he had almost two dozen guards floating silently behind him. 

He put up a strong ward locking Victoria in and preventing her from hearing anything. Then he turned to face the group of hunters and survey their expressions. Many of them appeared enraged, but an equal number looked terrified.

“Victoria can’t hear us right now,” Stiles said to the group. “I’d like to talk with all of you before we go in there. Now, I don’t have any of the specific details that she told you about our pack, but I want to clear some things up. I’m the Emissary of the Hale Pack. I’m also a Spark. Have any of you ever met a Spark before?” Stiles asked as he shifted the control on the people so they’d be able to nod or shake their heads. “You can respond.”

Several people shook their heads and one of the men near the front spoke. “I’ve met several of Araceli Hernandez Garcia’s family members, including her grandson Miguel. I lived in Texas for a couple years, and we crossed paths several times.”

“And were they outright monsters?”

“No,” the man answered, his brow furrowing. “They’re just regular folks.”

Stiles nodded. “Araceli Hernandez Garcia is my mentor. A local druid taught me most of the basics of magic, and then she took over to teach me the more advanced Spark skills.” Stiles paused for a moment to let this information sink in. “I’m telling you this for a reason. You know that druids have to maintain balance in order to maintain their magic. They can’t choose sides or be partial without their magic becoming corrupted. And you can check with him before you leave town. Dr. Deaton is the local veterinarian.” A few hunters nodded silently. “Most of my training has been at the hands of a druid and the most powerful and respected Spark in the country. I’m telling you this so that you understand me. I know that some magical folk affiliate themselves with werewolf packs for protection. That’s not what I’m doing. I don’t need their protection. I’m part of the pack because I want to be. It’s my job to protect them. Understand?”

“I think we can pretty clearly see the extent of your power now,” the man who had spoken drawled.

Stiles barked a laugh. “This? Dude, this is nothing. I just wanted to catch your attention.” The man blinked in surprise. “I want you to understand where I’m coming from with my magical training so you fully understand me when I say this next thing, because this is the deal breaker, as far as I’m concerned.” He waited a few more seconds before speaking. “The only reason you’re all alive right now is because my Alpha wants you to be.” Stiles let his grin grow wide and manic, and he saw fear return to the eyes of some of the men who had calmed down while he spoke. “As far as I was concerned, you were all threats, and deserved to be wiped off the map. After what Kate and Gerard did to our pack, to my mate, to my best friend, to me, after all that, and you’re still here, and still affiliating yourself with the Argent name? I was ready to kill every last one of you. But Laura didn’t want me to.”

“You… you wouldn’t,” the man spoke again. He was clearly the leader of this band. “Victoria said that you had brainwashed Chris. You wouldn’t be able to maintain your control over him if you killed all of us. He’d see that as an unforgivable action.”

Stiles smirked and waved his left hand, wiping away the invisibility ward that had been cloaking Chris where he stood at Stiles’ side. Several of the hunters gasped in surprise at Chris’ sudden appearance.

“Hey Tony,” Chris said. “I haven’t been brainwashed. I retired. There’s a difference.”

“Chris, you’d stand by and let this kid kill us?”

“Stand by?” Chris scoffed. “Tony, who do you think put down my father and sister?” Surprise was evidence on several of the hunters faces. “I spoke to the council first, too. They were in complete agreement. The Argent family has been terrorizing the supernatural community for far too long, and they’ve been finding evidence that my father and sister have been blackmailing hunters all around the country too.”

“The council turned against them?” Tony asked softly. 

Chris nodded. “Tony, you and Phil Marrone used to be close. Have you spoken to him in the past few years?”

“Asked him to come on this job with us. He said no.” Tony responded. “Said he wouldn’t come back to Beacon Hills again.”

“Did he say why?”

Tony glanced between Chris and Stiles. “Said he had a run-in with a pack here a couple years ago. Said the Emissary was a powerful Spark who handed his ass to him and made him promise not to return. I kind of thought he was just giving me a line, since he’s in New England now, but I see he was telling the truth.”

“He mentioned me?” Stiles’ grin widened. “How sweet.”

“He said you glowed,” Tony said, directing his attention back to Stiles again. 

Stiles threw his head back and laughed. “You wanna see?” He focused for a moment as he focused his  _ lumos _ on his eyes. It wasn’t highly practical and it’d start hurting his eyes after a while, but everyone agreed that it was effectively scary looking. “I can make my whole body glow too, if I want, but I’ve been told this is more bad-ass looking.”

“It’s not… like with the wolves?” Tony asked. “An indication of your control?”

“Nah,” Stiles responded as he made the color of the glow shift through the rainbow before settling back on white again. He maintained the light for another moment before letting it fade. “It’s just for fun.”

“Tony, Allison and I are part of the Beacon Hills pack now. You know I wouldn’t join a pack unless I respected the Alpha and the pack had demonstrated impeccable control.” Tony nodded slowly as Chris continued speaking. “Allison is dating one of the wolves. They’ve been together for years now, and they were friends for years before that. They’re talking about getting married someday. This is where my life is now. Victoria was invited to join the pack too, but instead she called my family, and the rest of you, and told them whatever lies she thought she needed to.”

As Chris spoke, Stiles watched as several of the hunters’ faces paled. 

“They’re in a relationship?” Tony asked.

“Why? What did she say?” Stiles asked.

“That the wolves raped her,” one of the men behind Tony answered after a few seconds of silence. “And that the pack was forcing her to carry the child to help build their numbers.”

“Allison isn’t pregnant,” Chris declared, although he glanced at Stiles, who shook his head minutely. “Allison isn’t pregnant, nobody in the pack raped her, and nobody is forcing anyone to carry a child against their will.”

Tony nodded and sighed tiredly. “And the council really ruled against your father?”

“Gave me the execution order myself,” Chris confirmed. 

“And your daughter is really…” Tony sighed again while looking for the right word.

“Want me to call her?” Stiles asked. “She could be here in five minutes.”

“Alone?”

“Yea,” Chris shrugged. “Or she could bring Isaac if you’d like to meet him. He’s the wolf. Good kid.”

“He’d come? Here? Now?” 

Stiles nodded. “If I promised he’d be safe, then yes.” A few of the hunters snorted. “What, you think he wouldn’t be safe?”

“There’s two dozen of us,” one of the men near the back said. “And we’re all armed.”

“Yes, but you can’t move,” Stiles said, lifting his arm up so he could float him closer to the front of the group. “And also, let me show you how your gun is doing.” Stiles used his Spark to pull out the man’s gun and taser, and then took each of them apart in front of his face before dropping the various pieces to the ground. 

Chris laughed next to Stiles. “He did that to me the first time we talked, back before I had officially retired. Scared the lights out of me. Makes you think, huh? If he has the control to take apart your gun from across the room, what else could he do?”

“I meant it when I said that you’re only alive because my Alpha wants you alive.” Stiles repeated. “It’s not a question of whether I could kill all of you. I can, and I would, if I thought you posed a more immediate threat to my pack. My Alpha doesn’t want me to kill you and Chris believes that you’ll listen to reason, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Tony nodded, although he had gone pale again. “You’re just going to take our words on it?”

Stiles grinned and waved his right hand to reveal his father standing on his other side, “Ah, no. I did that with the last hunters, and while they stuck to their words, this time we’re going a step further to try to drill the message home a little more thoroughly. Folks, I’d like to introduce you to my dad.”

“Your dad is the Sheriff?”

“Yup,” Stiles answered with a grin, “and he’s going to arrest all of you.”

“But we haven’t done anything illegal!” One of the men near the back said. “Yet.”

“Well, a lot of it depends on Victoria,” John responded. “But we can certainly go for accessories to attempted murder, since it seems that most of you folks came into town after Kate and Gerard made the actual attemps. Also, how many of you have concealed weapons permits for the State of California? And you know, I even saw a couple trucks parked in the loading zone outside, so we should process those as well.”

“And as a reminder, California doesn’t issue hidden carry permits if you’ve got a criminal record,” Chris said grimly. 

“And guess who has the discretion of whether or not to issue a permit?” John added on as he pointed at himself with his thumb.

“You’d make it so we couldn’t work in California anymore?” 

“You shoulda listened to your buddy, Phil,” Stiles said. He stepped closer to the group of hunters and enjoyed the sharp intake of breath that went through them. “My pack just wants to live our lives in peace. We maintain order in the supernatural community around here, as well as in other parts of the state, I might add. We’ve got alliances with packs all over the country, as well as the support of Araceli Hernandez Garcia and her family. We’re good people. And we’d very much appreciate it if hunters never show up in our town again. And we’d also appreciate it if you spread the word amongst all of your friends that we don’t want to be fucked with.”

Tony nodded. “Message received. But… how come you’re letting us go when you killed Gerard and Kate? If your Alpha wants peace, and if the pack is still unscathed, why did they have to die?”

Stiles barked a laugh. “Unscathed?”

“Two of the wolves were tortured,” Chris pointed out. “And then they tried their damndest to kill Stiles and Isaac.”

Tony looked to Stiles with wide eyes. Stiles grinned and pulled the neck of his shirt aside so the hunters could see the bullet wounds. They were finally healed, but still angry and red looking. He also waved the hand that still had a wrist brace on it. 

“Don’t forget about your ribs,” John murmured from beside him.

“Oh, yes, how could I forget about the injury that makes every breath I take hurt?” Stiles idly said as he pulled his shirt up to show the bruising that still graced one side of his ribs. “See, I can heal myself with my magic, but it drains me pretty thoroughly. I haven’t healed myself as much as I’d like yet because I need to get you lot out of my territory before I feel comfortable. I took care of the important stuff, you know, the bleeding holes in my shoulder, but I am so excited about fixing these ribs after you all leave.”

“They shot you?” 

“Hmm,” Stiles responded. “Twice. And threw a grenade at me. And shot me with a tranq dart.” Stiles glanced at Chris, “Kicked me in the ribs and wrist, breaking them both. Did I mention the grenade? I was pretty proud of blocking that. I’ve never tried to block a grenade before.”

“You blocked a grenade?”

“Do I look like I was in the center of an explosion? I wasn’t able to stop everything, but blocking the grenade was pretty significant.” Stiles asked. “I’m livid with myself for letting them hurt Isaac and myself as much as they did. I should’ve been able to stop them faster, but I was distracted and tired.”

“Let’s go talk to Victoria,” Chris said, changing the topic and drawing the hunters’ attention back to himself. “And after we’re done, I’ll make sure to sit down with you Tony and talk about everything. You don’t even know the half of what my family has done to the Hale Pack. I want to be sure that you fully understand how magnanimous Laura is. And how much restraint Stiles is demonstrating by letting all of you walk out of his territory.”

*

Stiles sighed as he let himself in the front door. It was good to be home.

“Stiles?” Laura called from her office, and he grinned as he saw her standing over her desk with Derek and Allison. Stiles smiled as he made eye contact with Derek across the room, and he watched as Derek’s grin shifted into confusion as he inhaled deeply. There must be dozens of different smells clinging to Stiles after handling all of the hunters and spending several hours at the police station.

Laura went back to staring at the blueprints on the desk as she spoke to Stiles. “I’m glad you’re back. Look at these plans we’re making for approaching Victoria’s hideout. She’s got nearly two dozen hunters there with her, and we think they’re planning something big in retaliation for killing Kate and Gerard. And if you--”

“Laura, it's been handled,” Stiles interrupted. He walked to the cabinet in her office and opened it, returning a few things to their places before closing it again. “It’s done.”

“What?”

“It’s handled,” Stiles repeated. “Chris and my dad and I took care of it.”

“You just…”

Stiles looked between Derek and Laura, his eyebrows scrunched together. “Laura, we talked about this. I told you I was tired of being on the defensive. I told you that I wanted to be done with this.”

“Yea, so we’ve been coming up with a plan. Didn’t you and Chris go to check out his house?”

“No… we took care of all the hunters.” Laura blinked and stepped around the table so she could approach Stiles while he continued explaining. “And before you ask, no I didn’t kill any of them. I froze all of them and we walked through and scared the shit out of most of them before we got to Victoria. She signed the divorce papers and then wrote a written confession about how she tried to have Isaac killed. She’s in jail, along with all of the other hunters. We don’t have much on them, other than them being accessories to future crimes Victoria was planning and a couple on minor things like carrying without a permit, but my dad said he’s pretty certain that he has enough evidence to put her away for a while at least.”

Laura stared at Stiles in shock for a minute before smiling slowly. “You really handled it all?”

Stiles stepped forward and held his hands out for Laura, and sighed in relief when she stepped into them. “I’m still getting a grasp on this whole Emissary thing. It’s my job to deal with the relationships between the pack and the rest of the world - and that includes hunters. I realized when Kate was fucking me up that I’d never beat her if I was only defending myself. It would have been the same with Victoria. If we’re always defending ourselves, we would never be done with them.” He leaned back so he could look into Laura’s face. “You’re not mad?”

“How could I be mad?” Laura asked with a small snort. “Even if I would’ve taken issue with the plan beforehand, I can’t argue with the results if they’re really all gone.”

Stiles closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and hesitantly looked at Derek. “Are you mad?”

Derek shook his head minutely and held his arms out. “Come here.” Stiles nodded several times and stepped into Derek’s arms, embracing him tightly. Derek buried his nose in Stiles’ neck and breathed deeply. “I’m just having some worry-whiplash. You’re clearly fine. I’m just… I would’ve worried about you if I had known. Why didn’t you take Laura and me? Or at least one of us?”

Stiles sighed and laughed softly as he rubbed circles on Derek’s back. “Do you remember what you told me when you were planning on facing that omega when we first met? Before we realized it was your uncle?”

Laura snorted as she wrapped her arms around them and rested her head on Stiles’ back. “We told you that you needed to stay out of the way so that we wouldn’t be distracted by trying to protect you.”

Stiles sighed and nodded. “I took my dad and Chris because I needed them. Well, I mean, for Chris it was personal, but also he was there as the expert on hunters. And I needed my dad as the legal side of it, so that we could arrest Victoria. And Laura, I know you could’ve done that, but I think it carried more weight in front of the hunters, to see that the Sheriff was on our side too.”

“Plus, I’m sure every one of those hunters is going to go back home and tell people that you are not only in control of this territory, but that you understand what mercy is,” Derek said with his face still buried in Stiles’ neck. 

“That was kind of the goal,” Stiles said. “I scared the shit out of them. Showy shit, like I did with the first batch of hunters that came after us. But I didn’t hurt any of them. Just made it very clear I could, and I was choosing not to.”

“You chose to be peaceful,” Laura said, and Stiles could hear the grin in her voice, even with her face still pressed against his back. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Well, as a very wise woman once said, we’re predators, but we don’t have to be killers,” Stiles responded as he rested his head on Derek’s shoulder, content in the arms of his Alpha and his mate. 

_ * _

Stiles scratched at his wrist, happy that the brace was finally off as he watched Derek, Isaac, and Ben chase Laura and Jordan across the yard. They were both transformed into their animal forms, and kept just managing to escape from the betas’ outreached arms. 

Chris, Marco, and his dad were standing around the grill with beers in their hands. 

Boyd brushed a hand along Stiles’ shoulders. “I’m getting a drink from inside. You want one?”

“Yea, thanks. A seltzer?” Stiles said with a lazy grin as Erica dropped down on the bench next to him. “How’s it going Batwoman?”

“Good,” she answered with a grin as she reached out to run one hand through Stiles’ hair. “Did you know before all of this chaos started, Boyd and Isaac had been talking with Laura about building another pack house? Boyd wants to do it a little closer to the main road, but offset from the road a bit.”

“Yea?” Stiles asked, turning to face Erica fully. “That’d be amazing!”

Erica nodded, her grin as broad as Stiles’. “We’ve been talking about having kids in a couple years, and we’d love to have a space that’s our own.”

“Plus, I already designed a perfect house for one of my classes. It’d be nice to put my architecture degree to good use building our own home,” Boyd said as he came up beside them. “And Isaac has been running his own crew for Jerry for the past year or so, so they could do most of the work.” He handed drinks to Stiles and Erica before settling into one of the Adirondack chairs across from them. “It’d be nice to have a place in the preserve so we have plenty of space, but also with a bit of privacy.”

“So are you guys thinking about having a wedding before or after you start the house? And kids?”

Erica laughed. “Well, what about you and Derek? When are you getting married?”

Stiles shrugged. “Probably after I graduate? But I should probably pick out a ring soon so I can propose, right?”

“You don’t think Derek wants to propose to you?” Boyd asked with a soft chuckle.

Stiles gasped and leaned toward Boyd. “Wait, do you know anything? Is he planning to already? Asshole. I want to be the one to propose.”

“Only you, Batman, only you.”

“Are you two really going to race to propose to each other?” Boyd asked, his face splitting into one of his rare wide grins. “Because honestly that would be amazing.”

Stiles pulled his phone out and googled to see what jewelry stores were in Beacon Hills. He knew of a couple, but since he didn’t make a habit of buying jewelry, he didn’t really know much about any of the businesses in town. 

“What size ring do you think Derek is?” Stiles mused without looking up from his phone. “Shit. How can I surprise him if I don’t know what size to get? Do you think I can measure his finger in his sleep?”

Erica laughed loudly and then jumped up when she saw her mom coming out of the kitchen. “Mom, let me help!”

Boyd and Stiles both rose a second later and rushed to help Erica and her mom carry food out from the kitchen. 

“Stiles, go sit and relax!” Melissa scolded when she saw him lift up the large salad. “You only just finished healing!”

“I know,” Stiles replied with a grin before leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. “And I’m so tired of just sitting and relaxing. It’s been over a week! I’m ready to help again.”

“Who needs help with what?” Allison asked as she walked into the kitchen with Josie. 

“Melissa doesn’t want me to help,” Stiles said with a good natured grin.

Cynthia laughed as she handed a platter to Allison. “Stiles, if you spend a lot more time talking about helping, you won’t be much help in the end. Go on, get outside, and then you can come back in for more things.”

Stiles laughed as he made his way toward the door, shooting a grin back at Allison and Josie, who were both carrying trays of food and supplies onto the patio with him. 

Laura and Jordan ran toward him as he opened the door, and he stuck out a foot to hold it open for them. Derek danced into Stiles’ space and lifted the bowl of salad out of his hands before pressing in for a kiss. “They’re going to change and get dressed,” Derek explained before running his nose up Stiles’ neck. 

“Good, I think everything is ready,” Stiles laughed softly before pulling out of Derek’s arms. “Go put that on the table while I grab more things from inside.”

Stiles was just finishing grabbing all of the assorted salad dressings they had in the fridge when Laura and Jordan came back through the kitchen.

“Need any help?” Laura asked. 

“Nah,” Stiles responded. “This is the last of it, go find your seats.” Jordan reached out and took some of the salad dressings out of Stiles’ arms with a laugh. “Good idea,” Stiles responded. “Thanks.”

They made their way out to the patio and Stiles pressed a kiss to Ben’s temple as he sat in the empty chair between him and Derek. Laura and Jordan were sitting on the opposite side of the table and Laura grabbed a piece of bread from one of the plates in the center of the table and quickly tore a bite from it. 

“There!” She said, her mouth still full, “Everyone else can officially eat now!”

They all laughed as they continued to pass plates and serve food. Their pack was still far from formal, but they acknowledged the tradition of having the Alpha eat first. Slightly. Technically. Barely. 

“Pass the turkey burgers, please,” John said, shooting a wink at Stiles and Ben. 

Derek reached down and laced his fingers together with Stiles’ for a second before squeezing them and letting go to grab the platter of grilled meat as it made its way down the table. 

Stiles grinned and looked around at everyone gathered at the table. It wasn’t his whole pack, the rest of them wouldn’t be back until later in the summer, but for now, it was perfect. 

“I love all of you,” Stiles said with a soft grin. 

Everyone paused to look at him. “We love you too,” Isaac said, reaching across Derek to squeeze Stiles’ arm. “Now, pass Melissa’s mac and cheese, please, before Boyd and Ben try to eat all of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I may or may not have already started writing ideas for the sterek proposal...
> 
> THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people who wrote so many lovely comments on this and the earlier fics in this series. I have lots more plot bunnies, but this was the last major plot arc I had planned... and it was SO HARD to write. So, thank you for all of you who were patient with me and who followed along as I wrote... and thank you so much to all of the people who had found this series more recently. All of you are amazing and I love you so much!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that's been tagging along, and HELLO to any new readers. I LOVE YOU ALL!


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